RWBY:KRME
by EpsilonPyro
Summary: An ex-assassin, a mischievous protector, an adventurous academic, and an unknowing outcast... These four make up team KRME, a group that has been brought together to be trained in order to protect the world of Remnant. Little do they know however, things won't be smooth while at Beacon Academy, for the forces of evil are beginning to move...Some of which involved our assassin.
1. The White Archer

The night air was cold, the moon in its shattered phase, similar to the state of the of the world below. The city of Vale had become quiet from the usual bustle from the day and turned dark, desolate and foreboding. The majority of people still active in the streets were homeless or were undesirables looking to collect the next easy paycheck. Any businesses brave enough to stay open was always under the looming threat of being robbed. The grey and black buildings that made up the city were still, the occasional light in a window showed any signs of life that resided within.

Slowly emerging from one of the many cramped and eroding alleyways was a group of men in black suits, black pants and red colored glasses. Each had in possession either a single edged sword or an automatic rifle, ready to be used if the situation got messy.

"Well boys, who's ready to make some money?"

The black suited men all turned towards the source of the question. The speaker was none other than the devious, cunning and highly wanted criminal Roman Torchwick. He wore a white suit vest with a red collar as well as a small grey scarf around his neck. He also wore black pants, black shoes and black gloves with rounded sleeves. His trademark item however was the black red banded bowler hat that sat atop of his bright orange hair.

"Yup, we're ready. Just say when." replied one of the thugs, clicking the safety off on his rifle.

"Excellent! Then let's get this show on the road people!" Torchwick sneered, spinning his grey-black cane round in his fingers. The smoke filled light from the cigar in his mouth lit up the features of his dark (almost non-existent) green eyes but his right eye was completely covered by the long bangs he had swept to that side of his face.

Torchwick and his lackeys started paving their way down the street towards a shop at the end of the road. The nearby residents veered away from the gang, as to not be involved into any conflicts. Torchwick smiled to himself as he strutted down the sidewalk, taking in the feelings of fear and intimidation he received from everyone he passed.

_Ahh...I love it when I'm about to do something should go without a hitch and we all go home happy! Well, except for this poor fellow we'll be borrowing from_. Torchwick thought with a smirk as they closed in on the shop. He looked up to see the name " Nova Dust and Crystals" atop the grey brick building. A glass window was on each side of the door which showcased the valued items inside.

The group headed into the store, striding right up to the counter. A middle aged man stood behind a glass display, showing off a vast assortment of colorful crystals for sale. There were various tubes on the sides of the store that housed different types of Dust, as well as small shelves in the center of the floor holding separately packaged goods.

One of the henchmen raised his sword and positioned it at the base on the shopkeepers neck. The aging man raised his hands in the air, a look of pure terror painted across his ageing features.

"Alright then..." Torchwick began, slowly pacing back and forth in front of the counter with his head cast down, "Here's how it's going to work: You're going to stand there and wait while my men siphon every bit of Dust out of this sleazy shop and you will inform no one of this event, or else we'll experience some...complications on the decision on keeping you alive. Understand?" Torchwick raised his head back up to meet the shopkeeper's eyes, squinting his own while smirking, relishing the look of terror the old geezer gave.

"Y-yes sir." the man squeaked, sweat trickling down his face.

"Good! I'm glad you're so cooperative." Torchwick sneered. He turned around to face his grunts, "Grab the Dust. As quickly as possible if you don't mind, I got other business to attend to." The men in black gave each a nod and pulled out a small, black cylinder from their jackets. They connected them to the tubes filled with Dust and extracted every ounce capable, leaving the glass tubes dry and bare.

As they were doing that, Torchwick placed a grey briefcase onto the glass counter that displayed the Dust crystals. He opened the top and then pointed to the rare items that were before him.

"Put them in, every last one." Torchwick demanded. The shopkeeper whimpered helplessly as he was forced to load all of his valuable goods into the care of this thief, all his hard work slip away from his grasp in mere minutes.

Little by little, the once full, prospering Dust shop became empty and void of of its valuables.

"Pleasure doing business with you sir." said Torchwick, giving a mock bow as he and his underlings exited the building, leaving the broke and hopeless man to his devices. "Now, all of you start making your way to the Bullheads. It's just **bound** to get livelier around here."

Just as he said the words, Torchwick's hat came flying off his head by an unknown force.

There were mixed shouts of "What the heck!?" "What was that!?" and "Where'd it come from!?" from Torchwick's goons, who were all trying to locate the unidentified threat.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Torchwick barked, getting the attention of his inferiors. "You four, get to the aircraft! The rest of you, with me! We've got an idiot that wants to play hero." He bent over to acquire his hat off the ground. He was surprised to discover that the object that was lodged comfortably in his hat, right below the red band...was an arrow.

"Oh for the love of-"

"Sir! Up there!"

Torchwick turned quickly to face the other side of the street, and glanced upwards. Standing on the roof of one of the buildings, the fractured moon as the backdrop, was a silhouette of a person in a white hooded cape. The inside of said cape was a dark, almost crimson red and they had the hood up, as to conceal their identity. Not much was visible of their attire except the white boots with metal bands around the top and heel of the shoe and black, fingerless bracers on their arms, reaching almost their elbow. A long bow was being held in their right hand, eagerly waiting to be used again and a quiver that housed all of the apparitions arrows was slung across his back.

"Oh, so it's you again!" declared Torchwick, pulling out the arrow lodged in his bowler hat. "Nice shot by the way, a hair lower and you would've had me!" The hooded person remained silent, cape rippling the soft night breeze.

"Okay boys...why the pause?" Torchwick said, pointing to the ghostly apparition, "Get him!"

The remaining men aimed their rifles and unloaded a barrage of fast approaching bullets in hopes of killing the archer quickly.

As soon as the speeding metal balls came close to contact however, the person vanished somehow evaporating into thin air.

"W-what the? Wh-who is this guy?!" asked one of the goons, anxiety slowly creeping into his voice. He then spotted the figure now on the ground, running towards him at an incredible speed. His bow had disappeared and had been substituted for two single edged blades that were being "reverse gripped" in the person's hands. "Oh sh-" The thug began, firing his gun once again in hopes of killing his enemy. It was of no use however as the attacker managed to deflect all the bullets with his blades, slipping around behind him and knocked him upside the head with the blunt side of one of his swords, knocking him unconscious. Another thug drew out his own sword and rushed the attacker. The individual sidestepped the attack easily and executed a quick combo with the flat ends of the blades, finishing it with a forceful kick in the chest, cracking a few ribs. The last two thugs glanced at each other and rushed in with alternating attacks from gun and sword. The hooded man used his blinding speed and agility to close the distance between them, blocking and dodging any attack the grunts were able to create. Dropping, he then swept the rifleman's feet right out from under him. Using the hilt of one of the blades, he connected right in the middle of the roughnecks chest, knocking the air out of him while still he was still airborne. The last goon stood there dumbfounded and terrified, glancing around to see his associates lying on the cold pavement, all knocked out cold. The hooded assassin raised his head and the man got a clear look of his face. The assassins eyes were a deep green, focused and filled with murderous intent, which made his opponents blood run cold. His eyebrows furrowed, revealing his determined resolve. And his mouth was...straight, a hard line showing no signs of a frown or smile.

"Screw this! I'm outta here!" the last goon turned tail and sprinted as fast as his body would allow. He was a good hundred feet away before he felt a great pain in his back and blacked out. The man had shot an arrow tipped with explosion Dust, hitting him dead center between the shoulder blades from a hundred feet away. The man then turned his attention to Torchwick, arrow aimed at his head.

"Bravo! Bravo I must say!" Torchwick cheered in amusement, clapping his hands to give off a fake sense of respect to the individual, "I can see why you were her favorite to work with. You have such skill! It's too bad you decided to leave us, we could have used you!" The archer pulled back the bowstring, keeping his silent persona.

Torchwick raised his hands up in the air, admitting that he was at a disadvantage. "Woah Woah! Settle down! No reason to get excited." He then heard off in the distance the sound of engines approaching his position. He gave a subtle smirk as to not give anything away.

"Well as much as much as I love chatting with you..." Torchwick smirked, and at that moment a small airship came roaring over the rooftops, letting down a rope ladder to which he grabbed onto. " ...I'm afraid I must make my exit. I must now bid you farewell." The airship started to turn, attempting a speedy getaway. The hooded archer let loose his arrow, setting it on a collision course with Torchwick's head. Before it hit its mark however, it was deflected by Tochwick's cane, and the arrow dropped back towards the earth.

The hooded assassin remained still as the airship flew further and further into the the night. He then sensed a unfamiliar presence behind him. He turned around in a flash, his bow back into two blades and on guard, but quickly relaxed when he saw who it was.

Standing there was a man in a black unzipped suit over a black buttoned vest and green undershirt with dark green pants. He had white gloves on his hands, black trouser shoes, a green scarf with a cross shaped pin attached around his neck. His skin was pale white and tousled grey hair and brown eyes glinted from behind shaded glasses. A straight, cane like object was in his right hand.

"That was quite the feat, young man. Your skills are truly amazing, especially at your age." the man said, taking small steps toward the other person, who still had his hood up.

"May we speak in private? I have a proposition for you." he continued, waiting patiently for a response. The hooded man gave a slight nod, putting his blades into his quiver. "Very well. follow me."

After a few minutes of walking they arrived in a small room in the backside of one of the many buildings that lined the street. Inside there was a small rectangular table with a chair on either side of it.

"Just relax and take a seat." Said the man in the suit, already sitting in a chair. The hooded man accepted and sat down.

" My name is Professor Ozpin." he began, "I am the headmaster of an academy called Beacon that trains young men and women to fight the evils of this world, known as Huntsman and Huntresses. Have you heard of it?" the hooded individual raised his head, showing off his deep green eyes. Ozpin had his attention. "May I ask who you are?"

The man gave a small nod and took off his hood, now revealing spiky white hair with bangs that almost touched the tip of his nose. He responded with only three words.

"Azure...Azure Knyte."

" I see. Well Azure, I must ask you some questions." said Ozpin. Azure stayed silent, waiting for the headmaster to speak.  
"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I was taught."

"By who?"

"Lots of different people." replied Azure, a tone of uneasiness lingered in his answer.

" Alright." said Ozpin, picking up on the fact that Azure wasn't comfortable to disclose the information " I was just curious. Next: Do you want to be a Huntsman?"

The white haired boy shifted his cape, revealing the white tunic and tan brown pants he had been hiding underneath his long garb.  
"Yes, I have been considering it for a while now."

" I see. Final question: Why do you want to become a Huntsman? Is it to slay monsters?" said Ozpin, his back resting in his chair.

Azure closed his eyes in consideration only opening them again when he was ready to give his answer.

"Well..." he began, "Not exactly...I have a lot of unfinished business. I want redemption for the mistakes I've made. And..." Azure paused, pulling out a silver necklace with a small sapphire hanging from the chain. "I've got a promise to keep." He put the necklace around his neck, tucking it into his tunic. "To protect others and do what I think is right."

After a moment's thought, Ozpin nodded. "I see. Well congratulations Azure! consider yourself enrolled at Beacon." He said, extending his hand to close the deal. Azure took it and gave it a quick shake, a look of shock and a bit of confusion on his face.

Ozpin smiled at the expression and explained his reasoning. "You have the physical talent and the right motivations in my eyes. You need not prove anything else to me."

"...Not to sound ungrateful, but that's all?" Azure asked blankly.

"Yes."

"But...but I don't think I really did anything to earn this."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would you call what you just did? Beating all of those trained thugs by yourself? You obviously didn't just magically obtain such skills, now did you?"

Azure pondered the Headmaster's words as he continued. "Understand that Beacon Academy strives to accept applicants from all walks of life. While you may not be willing to delve your past to me right now, it would be a shame to let your gift go to waste. I only wish to extend an invitation to what can be a bright future for you."

There was a long pause. Azure then nodded his head, his mind made up. "Alright then. Thank you sir, I really appreciate this chance." He said gratefully, a small but appreciative smile on his lips.

"Not a problem. Now, the air transports leave tomorrow at ten o'clock, so don't be late."

Azure nodded in understanding.

"Good! from this point on you are a huntsman in training. Have a good night." The professor left the small room and closed the door behind him, leaving Azure alone.

_So now it starts_... thought Azure, untucking the necklace from his shirt and placing it in one of his palms, watching as the lights danced off the polished surface of the sapphire, _One life ends...and another begins._ Leaving the room, he merged into the night to prepare himself for his new life.


	2. Reunions and Meetings

The morning sky was bright and clear. A group of eager students were waiting to board the giant aircraft to Beacon. Azure surveyed the group before him, analyzing the crowd of future classmates. He shifted the small pack he was carrying to ease the soreness in his shoulder. Closing his eyes, he listened to the random pieces of chatter of the crowd.

"-can you believe we're actually here?! I'm so excited!"

"-I can't wait to start training! I've worked sooo hard to get into Beacon-"

"-I wonder what the teachers will be like-"

"HEY! PASTY!"

Azure opened his eyes in surprise, senses kicking into high gear. The sea of bodies parted to reveal a boy with messy red hair who wore a black motorcycle jacket atop a white t-shirt and blue jeans stomping towards him at a quick pace. Azure swore that he looked familiar but couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Pushing his way forward, the other boy unsheathed a double edged sword from the hanging green sash tied around his waist. He clicked a button on the hilt and the weapon extended into a bladed staff, his blue eyes dead set on Azure. Anticipating a fight, Azure began to reach behind him to into his quiver to draw out his own weapon. A feeling of deja vu was continuing to gnaw at the back of his head as he tried to identify the person.

_Who?… _thought Azure, staring hard at the red haired boy.

The pale haired boy continued to dig through his memory as the boy in the black jacket closed the distance between them, a look of shock and anger in the his eyes. Just as the boy was almost upon Azure, he dropped his weapon but continued to walk towards Azure. The cool expression on Azure's face broke as he finally recognised him, eyes wide with disbelief.

_That hair...those eyes…he looks just like- _Azure's thought was cut off by the crushing hug the boy gave him, cutting off his breathing. The other boy held him close, Azure's face being covered in the green bandana worn around his neck.

"Azure, where the **HELL** have you been?!"

Azure gasped and spluttered, still trapped in the bear hug. Then without warning found himself being dropped onto the ground, finally released from the tight embrace.

"I've spent the last nine years besting the finest my homeland has to offer only to find out that not a single one of them could fend me off as well or as long as you! Biggest waste of time ever."

Azure sat on the ground stupefied, still trying to process everything through the shock of what was happening.

Oblivious to Azure's shock, the boy's rant continued. "And once you disappeared there wasn't anyone worth talking to. Do you have any idea how long it's been since someone got one of my jokes?!"

_Yep. _Thought Azure with a small chuckle,_ It's __**definitely**__ him. _

Hearing his laugh, the peculiar boy looked around and then down, confused. " What are you doing down there?" He asked as he hauled him to his feet. "And why so quiet? You better not have forgotten me."

"No, I haven't forgotten. It's so good to see you Jad." replied Azure, now pulling Jad into another tight hug. After a while the embrace ended, both boys happy to see each other again.

"Good to know you still remember me. I was beginning to think you were dead." said Jad, punching Azure in the shoulder.

"Not yet. Still have things I need to do."

"Good to hear! I look forward to fighting with you again to see how well you've improved. Just so you know, you don't stand a chance this time around."

"Ha, sure. You realize we were eight when we last sparred, right?"

"And whose fault was that, hmmm?"

Azure lifted his hands in defeat. "Alright, you win. Let's get on the ship, everyone's boarding."

The boys gathered their things and merged with the line of passengers, waiting to enter the huge metallic transport that floated in the air over the cliff side.

" But seriously, Where have you been? I haven't seen you or your family since you vanished." Jad said, side glancing at Azure as they entered the ship.

Azure tensed up, he did **not** like this topic. "I've been on my own. As for my family...I don't know what happened to them. You know as much as I do about them."

Jad raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what Azure was hiding from him.

"C'mon, let's find a good spot before they're all gone." Azure walked ahead of Jad, keeping his eyes forward.

Jad looked at his friend with a puzzled look. "_Azure...what happened to you?"_

Now inside the aircraft, both boys made their way to the viewing gallery. It was a long hallway with four semicircular windows on the lateral areas so passengers could enjoy the view. Jad finally managed to catch up with Azure who was looking out one of the windows at the far end.

"Whoa, you're fast! I never knew you could slip away so easily."

Azure gave a bemused chuckle, "Natural talent of mine. So what have you been up to all these years besides fighting?"

Jad gave a giant smile, excitement burning in his blue eyes. "Oh man where to begin?! I finished the basic training that we both were doing. Then I dedicated myself to honing said skills to become a Huntsman while looking for you-seriously where were you?-and…" The recollection continued during the lift-off and all the way through the trip to Beacon. Azure stayed stayed silent the whole time, listening to the adventures that had happened during his absence.

When the transport docked near the academy, Jad finally stopped rambling and Azure had the chance to speak. "...And thats how I was accepted into Beacon. How did you get in?"

"I was invited by the Headmaster."

"Ozpin? THE Ozpin? You must have exceptional skill to be invited by him!"

Azure shrugged his shoulders as they made their way down from the dock and into the main avenue of the school. They both became filled with a sense of awe as they saw the facility itself. The main building looked like something out of a storybook, a giant castle-like structure with a steepled tower stationed in the center. A signal light was shining in the lookout, explaining how the school got the name "Beacon". The stone walkway stretched all the way to the main gate with a large garden surrounding it on all sides. There were smaller pavilions around the main building, probably used for dorms and the like.

"Ok then…" Jad began, a competitive smile on his face, "I'm going to go get us a spot for the opening ceremonies. Try to keep up!"

Azure just stood by as Jad sped off towards the entrance, shaking his head in amusement. _Well...Jad is just as excitable as ever. _He looked back at the academy, taking in the sheer amazement it inspired.

"Look out! Coming through!"

"Huh?" questioned Azure, turning around to see who gave the warning. When he did he was rammed by a fast approaching mass, sending him to the cold hard ground.

"Oof!" was all Azure managed to say as the air rushed out of his lungs and joined back into the atmosphere.

_Ow...That hurt._ thought Azure as he rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain. He stood up and waited for his vision to re-adjust itself. He looked down to see the person that ran into him, still sitting on the ground.

Settled on the cement and wincing in pain from the encounter, was a girl. She had ridiculously long red orange hair that was put in an equally preposterous braid and had amber colored eyes that stood out from her pale complexion. An array of books was scattered around her, indicating that she must have dropped them.

"You okay?" asked Azure, eyeing the new person more closely. She wore a green jacket with a red plaid scarf around her neck, white pants and brown boots. Bracers with long, spine-like attachments were securely placed on her forearms.

"Y-yeah...I'm alright." she mumbled, still dazed from the run-in. All of a sudden, a long reptilian tail came into view, surprising Azure greatly. He then looked behind her to find it was attached and that slender spines were protruding out of the back of her jacket.

_This girl's a faunus… _Azure thought privately, waiting for her to gather herself.

Now fully aware of her surroundings, the girl jumped to her feet in embarrassment, almost tripping over herself. "I am SO sorry! Are you okay? Oh my stars, I didn't mean to run into you, you aren't hurt right? I am so sorry!"

Azure waved his hand to dissuade her growing concern. "I'm fine. What's the hurry? We just got here." he waited patiently for the girl to compose herself.

"Well," she explained, brushing herself off, "if you aim to be early, you'll never be late!" she beamed at him, her enormous tail swishing back and forth.

"Uh huh...I see. Well, try to be more careful. I'd hate to see you run into someone who isn't so understanding, especially since you're a faunus." Azure looked down at her feet at the supplies scattered around her feet. "Here, let me help."

The girl bent to gather her things, accepting the books that Azure picked up for her. When they straightened up again, she cocked her head to the side and frowned ever so slightly. "People bump into each other all the time. Why should it matter if one of them happens to have a tail?"

"Lets just say I know how the real world is." said Azure, His eyes darkening over as he remembered a long suppressed memory.\

* * *

_You can live or die, the choice is all yours._

_I hate you._

_Good. Feelings and emotions make you weak. Go again!_

* * *

Azure gave his head a quick shake and came back to reality. The girl made a mental note about how hurt he seemed during that short space out.

"Sorry, forget I said anything. My name's Azure, Azure Knyte. You are?" He asked as they both started walking to the grand entrance into Beacon, a pile of books in both their arms.

"I, uh, I'm Gayle. And…" She sighed, glancing at the ground. " trust me, I know how 'the real world is'. I was just hoping it wouldn't be much of an issue at such a respectable institution as Beacon." Gayle looked back up, smiling. "But you can't please everyone."

Azure cracked a faint smile though it quickly vanished. "Well Gayle, I am hoping that things are better here too. So, excited to be here?"

"Of course! How could I not be?!" She grinned. "I worked hard to get here a year earlier than most, and so far this is every bit as wonderful and awe-inspiring as I thought it would be!" They both entered through the gate and into a large grand assembly area, and Gayle was instantly captivated by it. Azure helped maneuver Gayle around the massing crowds, who was so distracted she almost bumped into some more people. Azure then finally spotted Jad, who was holding down a spot for him.

"Ok I've got to go. I'll see you around." Azure said, giving what he was carrying back to Gayle. He then left without letting her give a chance to respond.

Watching him leave, Gayle still gave a small wave as Azure joined up with Jad, letting a small smile show on her face. _"He's certainly...interesting"_

"About time you showed up!" Jad bantered, " I thought you got lost or something."

Taking the spot beside him, Azure looked at the platform before him. A stand alone microphone was placed in the middle, ready to be used. It wasn't long before Ozpin made his way towards the mike. The headmaster tapped the mic a few times to check it before giving his speech.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose...direction." There were looks of confusion and surprise from the crowd, this was not what they were expecting from the Professor. "You assume knowledge will free you of this but you're time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you...to take the first step."

As Ozpin departed from the stage, the crowd was deadly silent. He was soon replaced by a female teacher who had light blonde hair and light green eyes.

_Glynda Goodwitch if I recall. _deducted Azure, remembering seeing her as a hologram onboard the ship who welcomed them to the institute.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You're dismissed." She then followed in the direction Ozpin had gone, leaving the students with their thoughts.

"Well that was...interesting." Jad pondered, who was puzzled. "It was like he wasn't completely there."

Azure nodded in agreement, something **was** off. He didn't dwell on it long though, and turned back towards the entrance. "Come on, let's go find our stuff and get to the ballroom."

"Sounds like a plan!" agreed Jad, following his silent friend.

* * *

The rest of the day went by slowly and the night came rolling in at a snails pace, which annoyed Jad to no end. He had changed into a pair of black and green sleeping pants with pictures of motorbikes on them, but had no shirt on. He looked over at Azure who was off by himself laying on his sleeping bag, wearing a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Jad made his way over to Azure's corner and set up his own space. Azure sat up to acknowledge he was still awake.

Satisfied with his set up, Jad got comfortable on top of his sleeping bag. "Sooo…Can I ask you something?"

Azure looked at his friend, a quizzical look in his eyes. "What is it?"

"Well I'm kinda bored. Do you mind if I go into your bag and see what you have? Just curious."

Azure pondered the question a bit. He then shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Just put everything back where you found it."

Jad nodded and began exploring Azure's bag. Azure closed his eyes, settling back into the comfortable position he was in earlier. He could hear Jad going through his belongings and wondered what he could possibly be looking for.

"Saaay...What have we here?" Asked Jad, pulling a necklace from the bag. He flashed a mischievous glance. "I didn't know you wore girly jewelry."

Azure's eyes flew open and sat up in a flash. "Don't touch that! You'll lose it!" he demanded, reaching over to snatch it out of Jad's hands. However, Jad was expecting this and held it out of Azure's reach.

"What?" Jad questioned innocently. "I just want to look at it." A playful smile was plastered on his face, obviously eager to continue his little game of "keep away".

Pouncing onto his friend, Azure attempted to overpower him and regain his possession. The boys wrestled across the ballroom floor, all the while Jad still retaining the necklace. During their scrap, however, Azure managed to knock the jewelry out of Jad's hand. It flew into the air and landed on the wooden floor with a soft _*clink*_.

It took a moment for either party to realize that the object of importance was missing. Azure was the first to notice that the necklace had vanished and hastily looked around the immediate area, frantically hoping that he hadn't lost his most prized possession.

"Wh-where is it?" Azure stuttered, "No, no, no, no, no! I can't lose it!" He searched madly, but couldn't find any trace of his keepsake.

"Hey! is this yours?"

Azure looked up to find a stranger holding the sapphire carefully. Wordlessly he nodded and reached out for the necklace, and the young woman placed the stone in his hand gently with a smile.

"How did you find it?" Asked Azure, looking over the piece of jewellery to make sure there was no damage.

The girl's smile widened a little, revealing a pair of narrow fangs in place of flat canine teeth. "I heard it fall." She replied, pointing to the set of fox ears on her head that Azure hadn't noticed before.

His prize returned to him, Azure got to his feet and got a good look at the woman in front of him. The fox ears screamed she was a faunus, but unlike most she didn't seems self-conscious or cautious about it. If anything the girl was proud of her heritage, from what he could tell. She had changed into her sleepwear, which happened to be a onesie with a fox tail and a hood with holes for the ears. The getup was somewhat...amusing, if not unusual.

One of the newcomer's ears twitched, drawing Azure's gaze back to her head and face. Cascades of rusty orange hair tumbled to the girls lower back, the sides pulled back so they wouldn't impede her vision. A pair of astonishing green eyes peered out from underneath her bangs, shockingly bright against the pale skin of the stranger's face.

"It's a very nice necklace. I can see why you'd be afraid to lose it." The girl's musical voice broke into Azure's thoughts, and he shook his head to clear it. Seeming to remember her manners, she offered her hand. "I'm Rember, Rember Autumn."

Tucking the necklace away, Azure glanced at Rember's slender hand for a moment before shaking it. "Azure Knyte." He introduced curtly, quickly breaking the handshake.

"So whats your first day at Beacon been like? I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. This place is amazing!"

Azure glanced at the faunus girl. He thought about speaking to her more but elected to give a short response. He really wasn't in the mood for talk. "It's been fine."

Rember's smile faded, replaced with an expression of concerned curiosity that made Azure angrier than it should have. "Thank you for returning my necklace." Azure said abruptly, " I appreciate it."

Her smile returning, Rember nodded her head. "No problem!" she replied. "I'm glad I could help you. Good night!" With a small wave, the strange girl turned and made her way back to her own pile of belongings not far away.

Azure watched with keen interest as Rember settled into her own sleeping bag. He took in a deep breath and let it back out slowly, calming himself almost immediately. He mentally kicked himself for letting his emotions run away with him, especially when Rember gave him that look..._That _look he knew all too well.

"Dude...she was totally into you." Jad teased, nudging Azure's ribs and waggling his eyebrows.

Azure rolled his eyes irritably in response, "Yeah, sure she was." He replied, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Look I'm going to sleep alright? Goodnight." He then purposely laid down with his back to Jad, silently conveying he had no desire to chat. Jad only simply shrugged his shoulders and got himself settled, taking Azure's hint.

As soon as Jad was asleep, Azure pulled out his necklace, a sad smile appearing on his face.

_That girl…_Thought Azure as he reminisced about Rember. _...She reminds me of her…_ He closed his hand around the gem and let his eyelids flutter shut, his smile still etched on his face.


	3. Initiation Day

Rays of sunlight came filtering through the tall glass windows, stirring everyone in the ballroom. Awakening from her peaceful slumber, a girl with disheveled, rose pink hair rubbed her purple eyes open. She gave a loud and long yawn while she waited for her eyesight to adjust. Just as her vision returned, she was greeted by a familiar face who just happened to be...staring right at her.

"GOOOOOD MORNING ROSY!" A cheery voice exclaimed, a wide smile plastered across the speaker's face.

The pink haired girl gave a warm smile and nodded her head. "Morning Sonara. Got enough sleep I take it?"

"Boy, did I ever! I'm sooooo ready for today! Lookout world, super duper Sonara and radical Rosy are ready to kick some butt!"

"Nice to know you're ready. But remember, you can just call me Rosalie." she giggled, watching Sonara "shadow box" the empty space between them, the jagged layers of Sonara's dull brown hair swished from side to side, hiding her sky blue eyes beneath her bangs.

"So why you still in your pajamjams? C'mon! Let's go!" Sonara dragged Rosalie out of her sleeping bag, the latter only half-heartedly trying to free herself from her hyperactive friend.

"Why the rush? It's still really early. At least let me get ready and eat something." Rosalie yawned, standing upright and dusting off her pink and blue nightgown. She saw that Sonara was already decked out in her combat gear; a jade green chang pao, grey-green pants and white knee-high laced boots.

"I can't sleep any longer! So let's go! Get ready!" Rosalie barely had enough time to grab her gear before being pushed hastily towards the girl change rooms, smiling at Sonara's excitement all the while.

Azure was woken up from the racket, and watched groggily as the two friends exited the ballroom. He sat up slowly to prevent the head rush he was prone to getting and looked over at Jad. Unsurprisingly, he was still fast asleep and snoring something fierce. Without making a sound Azure slipped out of his sleeping bag, grabbed his gear and made his way softly towards the men's showers. Jad remained fast asleep, not even twitching.

After a relaxing shower, Azure made his way to the dining hall. As he entered the large room he was impressed at its grand size. There were four long tables running the length of the hall with some students scattered along them, eating quietly. Grabbing a plate of pancakes, Azure started searching for a seat. He spied Rember, then Gayle, and then the two girls who had woken him, except Rosalie was no longer in her nightgown. The girl now wore her combat gear, which consisted of a long-sleeved cerulean shirt beneath a pink and purple vest, a salmon colored pareo was wrapped around her waist, and teal cuff boots covered her feet. Her long hair was no longer wild and messy, having been pulled back into a tight braid.

Opting out of social interactions, Azure found an empty spot at one of the tables. There was no one close to where he sat, which he was totally fine with as he just wanted to eat. Just as he began, someone sat down opposite him. Azure sighed inwardly as he looked up to see who this new person was.

The first thing he noticed about the girl was a pair of rich red eyes peering through the layers of her bangs. Silvery blue locks laid against her back in a straight sheet with a single curled lock resting on each side of her heart shaped face. She had long-sleeved grey shirt on beneath a silver breastplate and there was a black cape secured around her slim neck. Cool grey pants covered her legs, and black boots with a series of buckles attached and white details protected her feet.

"Hey there." The girl said, an impish smile on her face. " Do you mind if I sit here?"

Azure raised a questioning eyebrow. Something about her tone didn't sit well with him. Nevertheless, he gave a small nod. There wasn't a good enough reason to say that she couldn't, so he turned his attention back to his food. The silver haired girl just continued to sit there, staring at Azure intensely. Sensing that she wasn't doing anything, Azure looked back up at girl. "Something you want?"

"Aww, you want to talk to me! How _sweet_!" She giggled, giving Azure a sly wink. "I'm just joking around. So what's your name?"

_But I don't want to talk to you. _Azure thought to himself, a twinge of irritation crossing his face.

"It's Azure."

"Nice name! I'm Valerie, pleased to meet you." She extended her hand towards Azure, and he gave it a quick, but soft shake. Breaking the contact, Azure tried to return to his food, only to be interrupted by Valerie again. "So you excited to get assigned into teams today?"

"Huh?"

"Teams. We all get teammates for the initiation and stuff."

"Not really."

"Aww, why not?"

"Reasons."

Valerie made a playful pouty face at Azure's evasiveness. _Boy, this is fun! _she thought, _And he's cute, which makes it even better! _she smiled to herself, quietly giggling at his agitation. "Ok then, but it's going to happen."

Azure rolled his eyes and sighed to himself in annoyance. _Yeah, _he thought,_ 'cause I'm sooo looking forward to that._

Just at that particular moment, Jad placed his own plate of pancakes and bacon down beside Azure. "Morning Pasty! Looking gorgeous today." He said, grinning lopsidedly.

"Morning." Azure sighed, rubbing his temples. Realizing that he had little time left to eat, Azure scarfed down his remaining breakfast as fast as he could manage. It was over in a manner of minutes, and Jad and Valerie watched him in fascination as he ate the last of his food.

"Whoa, easy there. You could get sick." Jad stated with an amused chuckle as Azure cleaned up his area and got to his feet.

"I'll be fine." Azure said, rolling his eyes at Jad's remark. He turned his attention back at Valerie, who still sat there eyeing him. "Nice talking to you."

Valerie's smile widened, her red eyes glinting with content, "Pleasure's all mine. I hope we can get to know each other more!" She watched as Azure left the table. _He's so dreamy and mysterious...I really hope he's on my team. That would be so awesome! _

As she continued to daydream, Jad cleared his throat to grab her attention. "So…" he began idly, "How's it going?"

Valerie snapped out of her fantasies and looked at Jad. "Oh...It's, ah, going well! Thanks for asking. I don't believe I know your name?"

"Jad. Jad Eclipse." he stated with a proud smile. "That's jade with no "E". And you are?"

"I'm Valerie. Valerie Ashe. That would be ash _with _an "E"." Just then, an idea popped into Valerie's head. "Hey...are you friends with Azure?"

"I am indeed milady."

_Yes! Lets see what I can find out. _Valerie smiled to herself, this was just too perfect. She decided to keep up her "innocent curiosity" act. "Could you tell me more about him? He didn't talk a whole bunch."

Jad shrugged his shoulders apologetically, "Sorry, can't say much. Haven't seen him for a long time, and he's pretty much the opposite of what I remember."

"Oh. Well...that's alright. Thanks anyway." said Valerie, smiling at Jad. However, she was slightly annoyed at coming to a dead end. _Drat! I must've jinxed it._

"I can however, answer questions you have about me. If you want." Jad replied nonchalantly.

"Alright then…" said Valerie, pondering what she would ask him while trying to appear interested. "...What is your favorite thing to do?"

Jad's eyes lit up with enthusiasm and he gave an enormous smile. "Motorcycles." He stated excitedly, " I **love** to ride Motorcycles."

"Really?" Valerie questioned with genuine interest, laying her chin on the backsides of her hands. " That's super cool! Do have your own?"

"Oh boy, do I! She's so pretty. It's so hard for me not being able to bring her with me here." Jad stated as he reminisced about his vehicle. Glancing slyly at Valerie, he smirked at her. "You wanna ride sometime?"

* * *

Azure slowly let out a long breath. He wasn't used to such talkative people. No, check that, he wasn't used to people in general. Jad was alright, he just needed to get used to him after being apart for so long. Valerie was... just plain odd, why was she so curious about him? It wasn't like he was that interesting. He didn't quite have an opinion on either Rember or Gayle, he only briefly talked to them once, but both seemed nice enough. At least they weren't as pushy in trying to talk to him, which was nice.

Clearing his mind of thought, Azure entered the school's unisex locker room. He walked over to locker 144 were his weapons and extra gear were kept. Opening said locker, Azure strapped two small, silver, triangular pauldrons on each of his tunics sleeves and tightened the straps so they wouldn't slide. He slung his quiver across his back and put his blades inside. As he got prepped, yet _another_ new face decided to appear beside him. Glancing over discreetly, Azure analyzed the new individual.

It was a girl. Not very tall, with a pale complexion, wavy white hair that styled into a bob, and sharp green eyes. She wore a white laced up shirt, light grey leather pants, light brown knee high boots and a white cloak with a black inside. The girl didn't seem to notice she was being observed, a grumpy frown painted across her face.

_Geez, meeting all sorts of people recently. _Azure thought to himself, focusing back at his own belongings.

"Can I help you?"

Azure looked back at the girl, giving a surprised look at her unexpected question. "What?"

Not even stopping to focus on Azure, she continued. "Well, You were looking at me. So what do you want?" the girl asked impatiently, a slight edge in her tone.

"Nothing. I didn't want anything." Azure replied. This girl really was in a sour mood. "And you are…?"

"Kyra, not that it's any of your business." Kyra answered, placing a gold circlet on her forehead and attaching two double-edged blades to her wrists. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than waste time talking to you." Without another word, Kyra closed her locker and left the room, leaving Azure with a puzzled expression as he tried to figure out what had just transpired.

"Well, that was certainly interesting. I wonder what her problem is." Azure snapped out of his stupor to see Rember standing in front of him, watching curiously as Kyra walked hastily towards the exit. She gave a small wave and a warm smile as Azure made eye contact with her, her fangs peeking out of the corners of her mouth.

Azure let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and shrugged slightly. After composing himself, he reached back into his locker and pulled out his necklace, putting it around his neck. He realized that Rember had her battle gear on, which contrasted greatly with her sleepwear. She wore a black top with sleeves cut at the elbow and two grey leather straps crisscrossing from her shoulders and across her chest, black pants with two similar grey leather straps crisscrossing across her hips and waist, and black leather knee high boots. Her weapons, which appeared to be two clawed whips, were securely placed in holsters on her hips. Compared to her previous outfit, Rember's hair shone brightly against the dark colors of her attire, almost like the hair itself were made of fire.

Realizing he hadn't saying anything, Azure cleared his throat. " I don't know. Could be a lack of sleep."

"Meh, who knows?" Said Rember. Spying at Azure's necklace, she bent down a little to get a better look at the gem. Azure wanted to move away from the faunus, but he stayed put. "So I couldn't help but notice your attachment to this necklace last night. Did it belong to someone?"

Azure's eyes widened, but gave a small nod in response. Tucking it into the inside of his tunic, he waited for Rember to straighten up before talking. "Yeah, it did."

"I'm so sorry." Rember replied sincerely, "You don't have to say anything else. I know what that's like." She pulled her own necklace out from beneath her shirt. It was rather plain, nothing more than a blue-grey stone on a leather string. After holding it out for a few seconds, she let it fall back into its place. "It was my sister's. She was only a kid."

After a moments pause, the static feed of the school PDA made itself known, grabbing everyone's attention.

"_Would all first year students report to Beacon cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon cliff immediately."_

_"_Guess that's our cue. C'mon, let's get moving. Azure, right?" Rember said, gesturing with her hand for Azure to follow. With a simple nod of his head, Azure followed the faunus out of the locker room and towards their initiation.

* * *

The trek to the cliffs was easy enough. All the initiates watched as the landscape around them changed from the lush, shiny and pretty gardens of the school grounds, to a more rugged and untamed plain of the clifftop. Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch stood at the edge and off to the side, calmly waiting for the students to arrive.

"Each of you please pick a platform to stand on and wait for further instructions. Again, everyone please choose a platform." Glynda evenly stated and the students did what they were told, quickly finding their own spot.

Azure analyzed the setup before him. Grey squares were placed in a neat line at the edge of the cliff, the symbol of Beacon etched into each of them. Finding one still open, Azure stood on top of the small platform and looked up and down the line. Jad was a few spots to his left and Rember was to his immediate right, each showing signs of anticipation and excitement in each of their faces. He then saw Gayle further down the line to his left, but was too far away to see how she felt. She seemed to have a different outfit on compared to yesterday, and Azure assumed that it was Gayle's actual combat gear. Before he could scope out any others he might know, Glynda and Ozpin casually strolled to the center of the line to address the initiates. Ozpin cleared his throat deliberately to get everyone's attention. Almost instantaneously, all of the students focused their eyes on the headmaster, ready to learn their objective.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began. The tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife as each of the initiates peered at the seemingly endless sea of foliage, not even a shred of earth could be seen for miles.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'." Glynda stated, obviously aware of said rumors. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...**today.**"

_Huh, guess what Valerie said turned out to be true. Joy. _Thought Azure, crossing his arms and nodding his head in understanding. He then heard someone, a girl in a black and red dress with a red hood at the far right of the line, gripe to herself about the new information.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with with whom you can work well." Continued Ozpin. The girl in the red hood continued to groan, clearly not eager about getting teammates. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Azure almost winced at the loud, mixed reaction of the group.

"**Whaaaat?!"**

**"**See? I told you-!"

"Better find a good partner..."

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." Ozpin said calmly, re directing everyone's attention back on him. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will **die."

That last statement clearly made a few of the students uneasy, but Azure wasn't fazed. Glancing over at Rember, Azure saw that she was only half paying attention. Her green eyes searched the horizon curiously and she was singing under her breath.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin said, concluding the explanation. A boy with light blond hair hesitantly raised his hand, but Ozpin didn't seem to notice. "Good! Now, take your positions."

All of the students did as they were instructed and held their own stance atop their platform, with the exception of the blond boy, who still had his hand raised.

Suddenly, the first student at the far left was launched from their platform and went soaring through the air towards the dense forest below.

_They're catapults... _ Azure realized, adrenaline now seeping into his veins. Drawing out his blades, he went back into his running position and waited for his turn. Closing his eyes, he listened to the rhythmic sound of the catapults launching.

"Hey, Azure." Azure opened his eyes and looked at Rember, who wore a confident expression on her face."I'll see you around. Try not to get killed, alright?" Rember said, looking directly at him.

A bit surprised, Azure nodded and smiled faintly. "Same to you."

With that, the mechanics in Azure's platform activated, vaulting him into the morning sky and towards the Emerald Forest.


	4. Pairing Up

The forest was quiet, the tall trees gently swaying in the warm breeze. Everything seemed peaceful and serene. It only lasted a short while, as the Beacon initiates were on a set collision course to the forest floor.

Azure used the limited time he had and plotted out a landing route. The ground was fast approaching by the second, waiting patiently for Azure to make a mistake and fall to his demise. As he was about to be closelined by a branch, Azure positioned one of his blades in front of him. It got caught in the wood, transferring the momentum of the fall into his sword and making him swing upwards.

After doing a few back flips, Azure landed nimbly on a different branch, perfectly balanced. Azure started surveying his surroundings. All he could see around him was a blanket of green, he needed to go lower. Jumping down from branch to branch, Azure was now able to get a better look at his environment. The forest had a dark and foreboding atmosphere, much darker than he had anticipated. While the forest didn't frighten him, Azure felt as if he needed to keep a sharp eye out. This place wasn't to be taken as a walk in the park.

_Ok… _Azure thought, _time to find a partner. _Having his blades ready, Azure closed his eyes and concentrated. In his mind's eye, Azure could sense multiple presences nearby his position. One of them felt familiar, but he couldn't identify who it was. He could also feel multiple empty voids in the area, and they were approaching fast in his direction.

_Grimm. _Azure thought warily. He hadn't seen one in a long time. _I need to move. _Pulling his hood over his face, Azure again took a moment to concentrate. Instantly, Azure vanished from sight, perfectly invisible to the world around him. Maintaining the illusion, Azure hopped from tree to tree towards the familiar presence, curiously anticipating who it was he identified.

* * *

"WOOOOHOOOO! YEAH!" Cheered Rember gleefully as she flew through the air, savoring every moment she stayed airborne.

_Aww man, this is amazing! _Rember thought happily, an enormous smile on her face. _I wonder who my partner is going to be? I hope they're cool. I wonder how we'll meet? Or what the relics are? Or what the opposition is? Is it Grimm? I hope that it's-oop, incoming tree._

Holding her weapons at the ready, Rember shot out one of the clawed ends of her whips to latch onto a nearby branch. It worked and the points dug into the wood, holding steadfastly. Rember's momentum made her swing forward and she readied her other whip. Just before the claw released from the branch, Rember lashed out her other whip to attach to a different tree. It succeeded, and Rember continued swinging from tree to tree using this technique.

"Okay, I think that's far enough." Rember mumbled to herself after a few minutes of swinging. Using the last bit of movement left, Rember vaulted herself upwards and did a pair of acrobatic flips, landing softly on the forest floor.

"Yeah! Nailed it." Rember said triumphantly with a pleased look on her face. Putting her weapons back into their respective holsters, Rember used her fox ears to listen to the atmosphere of the forest. Picking up something unusual that wasn't far away, Rember climbed up a tree and made her way through the treetops towards the foreign sound, eagerly wanting to see if it was her new partner.

* * *

Gayle felt her muscles lock as she was launched from her platform, the excitement of the moment rushing through her veins. She was too busy watching those already catapulted to notice her turn had come until the wind was already blowing past her face. As soon as she registered she was airborne though, her enthusiasm only grew.

_This is absolutely brilliant! _Gayle thought to herself gleefully, completely enjoying the feeling of flying. She could see the first few students now vanishing into the blanket of the treetops. Looking behind her, Gayle saw a scrawny blond kid flailing wildly and she couldn't help but laugh. _I wish him luck with his landing. He's really going to need it! _Looking back down at the forest, Gayle planned her landing.

_Alright, focus Gayle! _She mentally chastised herself, _The trees look fairly old, so there should be low chance of branches breaking under force of impact. The dense foliage might cut enough of my momentum, and then if I can get my tail around one of the thicker limbs I should be alright. _She thought of using her weapon somehow, but decided against it. Her double ended glaive wouldn't be much help in this situation.

As she kept contemplating how to land, the first trailing fingers of the taller trees rose up and snatched her out of the air. Gayle protected her face as the thin branches and jagged leaves tried to leave scratches on her when she crashed through the dense canopies. Just as she was about to hit the ground, Gayle hooked her tail around a sturdy looking branch to save herself. She almost overshot the branch to begin with, and she spun in a forward motion because of it. Gayle started to get dizzy very quickly from the spinning, and she let her tail let go of the branch. She landed shakily on the ground, but she didn't lose enough momentum to stick the landing. Instead, she kept moving forward, somersaulting across the soft earth and into a dense bush.

"Ow...I **really **need to work on the landings. Well, at least it can't get any worse." Gayle mumbled to herself in pain. She emerged out of the bush and brushed herself off, checking her gear to see if it was damaged. While she still had her white pants, white shirt, and brown boots on from the day before, that was the only things she kept. In replacement of the other articles of clothing, she had two green shoulder pads and an armored green chest plate wrapping around her upper body. Suddenly, Gayle felt the ground shake and the forest come alive with sound and light. She could see a pillar of dust off in the distance, which instantly made her curious.

"An explosion?" Gayle asked aloud, drawing out her weapon. "I wonder who -or what- that was?" She now decided to move towards the display, earnestly wanting to see the cause of the tremor.

* * *

"**WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BABY! BRING IT!" **Jad screamed with maddened enthusiasm as he was launched into the air and travelling towards the sea of trees. The adrenaline was potent in his system and it made him hoot and holler the entire trip. As he started his descent towards the ground, Jad started maniacally laughing.

"**HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! HERE WE GO!" **Jad shouted wildly as he braced for impact on the forest floor. Before his speeding body came into contact with the tips of the trees, Jad's entire body started glowing dark green. This light intensified every passing second until Jad made contact with the ground. What happened next was jaw dropping.

The very moment Jad's foot made contact with the ground, there was a massive, earth shaking explosion. Trees in the immediate area were uprooted and any animals around were carried away with the shock wave.

After the dust had settled, Jad walked out of the large crater he created, completely unscathed. Looking back at the display, he gave a couple more laughs at the mess he produced.

"Hehehe, that was awesome!" Jad chuckled to himself, still feeling the effects of adrenaline in his system.

"I wonder if anyone else saw that..." Jad asked himself. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Jad shouted, "HEY! DID ANYONE SEE THAT?!" No response.

"Eh, oh well. I best be going now."

Pulling out his staff-sword, Jad flipped a small switch near the blade. The sword then retracted and folded back into the hilt, leaving Jad with just a quarter staff. Attaching it to his sash, Jad now reached underneath his jacket to reveal a black fedora he had been safeguarding. Placing the hat securely on his head, Jad looked into the forest beyond, a confident smile plastered on his face.

"Alright Huckleberry..." Jad said to his hat, "let's go find a partner!" With that, Jad casually walked into the forest, still wearing his confident smile and anticipating who his partner would be.

* * *

Rember moved quietly amongst the trees, the shade providing her cover and a way to escape the hot sun. Her fox ears flicked towards every sound, and her green eyes searched the shadows vigilantly. Birds fluttered amongst the canopies, twittering at each other and the faunus girl who passed underneath them silently. Small, unseen creatures scurried through the brush, and in the distance a lone Beowolf howled.

Rember froze and tuned out the ambient noises to focus on the Beowolf, her eyes narrowing as she tried to locate it. There was another howl and Rember frowned, but determined that the Grimm was far enough away that it shouldn't cause any trouble. Still, she had best watch her back, Beowolves traveled in packs.

Traveling in peace for a few more minutes, Rember's ears picked up low growling ahead of her. Pinpointing the sounds, Rember activated one of her whips and pulled herself up into one of the tree's branches. Perched beside the truck, she pushed a small branch aside and looked down curiously.

A pair of juvenile Beowolves were romping together in a small clearing. Rember's spine stiffened as she felt her skin go cold as her semblance acted up. Shaking her head, Rember cleared her mind and swiveled her ears to check for any more potential threats. Hearing none, she began swinging from tree to tree with her weapons until she was behind the larger of the Beowolves. Taking a deep breath, Rember steeled herself and leapt out of the tree. She turned in a flip and landed on the beast's broad shoulders. She wasted no time in using the clawed part of her weapons, now transformed into batons, to end the Beowolf's life, and she jumped off it's back as it slumped to the ground.

Rember twisted and landed in a crouch. The second monster snarled loudly and the girl hissed in return. The Beowolf lunged forward and Rember rolled out of its path. She was on her feet in a flash. Her first whip, Ashweave, clawed bit flew towards the Beowolf and wrapped around one of its limbs. It was quickly followed by it's twin, Stormshatter, which wrapped around the adjacent limb. Rember pressed a button on each handle and electricity surged through her opponent's body. The shock wasn't powerful enough to kill the Grimm but it was enough to stun it, and while it shuddered she leaped forward and dispatched the beast before it could recover.

Getting to her feet more slowly, Rember retracted her whips back into clawed batons and scanned the immediate area for any more threats. The faunus couldn't see or hear anything, but she felt as though she was still being watched. Rember walked cautiously into the trees, her ears alert.

As she entered the shade a creaking sound from above caught her attention. Rember lifted her eyes and searched the foliage for the perpetrator, but she found nothing. Focusing her hearing, Rember thought she heard faint, almost unnoticeable breathing, and her fox ears twitched, trying to pinpoint the sound. Standing still on the ground wasn't helping. Rember strode further into the trees, stepping lightly to avoid any twigs or leaves that might give away her position.

Once she felt she had been away from the clearing long enough Rember took to the trees again, leaping and swinging from branch to branch with practiced ease. She approached the clearing again from a different angle and located the place where she believed where the sound had come from. Rember closed her eyes and focused all of her attention on listening for anything out of place. The small wildlife that had been driven away during the excitement of her skirmish had all reappeared. The faunus slowly filtered those thoughts from her attention and caught what she'd been listening for.

_Gotcha… _Rember thought, and she stealthily moved towards her target.

Getting as close as she could without being spotted, Rember honed in on the sound and tapped into her semblance, freezing the branch where she believed her target was perched on. Whoever it was would almost definitely notice the change in temperature, so she would have to move quickly.

The mystery person felt the temperature drop immediately and jumped to a different tree. Rember saw the disturbances across the large plants plants and followed them in hot pursuit.

_Whoever they are, they're fast! _Rember thought as she narrowly missed her target. Freezing a branch ahead of the incognito individual, the limb broke when the mystery individual landed and they grabbed onto a lower branch. Taking the opportunity, Rember flung herself towards the cloaked person and tackled them.

Rember's collision with her target caused the stranger to become visible as they fell. They both crashed to the ground, and Rember got up before the stranger. The person had a hood covering their face, and once they pulled it back Rember felt a huge smile spread over her face.

It was Azure, groaning to himself in pain while occasionally mumbling something under his breath. Allowing him to stand up, Rember stepped forward with a dancer's fluid walk and watched Azure slowly straighten up with a grin. When he noticed her standing there Azure froze.

"Hey there, it looks like we're partners." Rember greeted, still wearing her huge smile.

Snapping out of his daze, Azure nodded back at the faunus. "Yeah, guess we are."

"Well, come on. Let's go find that relic the teachers were talking about."

"Alright." Azure closed his eyes, and Rember watched the boy curiously. After a moment's pause, he immediately opened them and pointed straight ahead of the newly formed pair. "That way."

"Sure, whatever you say." Rember agreed, and the two embarked back into the forest of green, following Azure's sense of direction.

* * *

Valerie walked past a bush for what seemed the millionth time in a row, everything looked the same here. She sighed to herself and wiped the sweat off her brow, the sun scorching. The landing part of the job was easy enough for her, but finding an old temple in the middle of a creepy forest was harder than she thought. Taking a moment's pause, she heard birds twittering around her in the treetops, and gunfire was heard in the distance.

_Seems like the opposition is showing up. I better be on guard. _Valerie thought, and she pulled out her weapons, which consisted of a short double-edged sword and a small, circular shield. She continued walking attentively when she heard a bloodthirsty roar off in the distance. She ran in the direction of the sound and emerged into a small opening in the trees.

When arriving at the clearing, Valerie spotted a white haired girl fighting against two Ursai. She took cover behind a tree and watched the scene unfold.

Kyra swung one of her wrist swords across the smaller of the Ursa's face. It left a deep cut in the bone plating where it struck and she jumped back when the beast took a wild swing at her. The injured Grimm then blindly charged at the girl, trying to trample her underfoot. Kyra side rolled out of the way at the last second and pointed her opposite blade at the beast. Revealing a small gun attached to the bottom of each of her weapons, Kyra pulled the small trigger of the one pointed at the Ursa and shot it. Hitting the beast square in the head, it wiped out mid stride and remained still.

Valerie watched in amazement as Kyra single handedly killed the monster, her eyes filled with respect for the girl. She then saw the larger Ursa charging full speed towards Kyra, who seemed to have forgotten it was there, and sprinted from her hiding spot.

"Hey! Behind you!" Valerie shouted in an attempt to warn her. Kyra turned around just in time to see the large bear closing in on her, and braced herself for impact. Just before she was rammed however, Kyra watched in astonished confusion when the Ursa somehow stumbled out of its collision course and dropped dead right beside her. Glancing, Kyra discovered a spear lodged in between the beast's eyes. She then looked at Valerie, who was trying to catch her breath from running, pull out the weapon as it transformed back into a sword. Now able to breath, Valerie looked Kyra square in the eye and gave her a heart warming smile.

"Hiya, partner! I'm glad you're okay, I didn't think you'd hear me in time." Valerie said. Kyra gave a quick huff and looked away from the silver haired girl, confusing Valerie greatly. "Is...there something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just...didn't need your help is all. Try not to take it personally." Kyra replied coldly.

"Uh...ok then." Valerie said, confused at Kyra's unwarranted hostility. Clearing her throat, She extended a hand towards Kyra. "I'm Valerie Ashe. What's your name? I'd like to at least get to know the name of my partner." _Even though I wish Azure was my partner right now instead of Ms. Prickly over here._

Glancing down at the gesture disapprovingly, Kyra retracted her weapons into metal bracelets and grasped Valerie's hand reluctantly. "Kyra Miste." She stated bluntly as she shook the hand promptly and just as quickly let go.

"Right!" Valerie said, trying to stay positive. "Now that formalities are out of the way, let's go find a relic!" Valerie barely took two steps before turning back towards her partner, a sheepish grin plastered on her face. "Ahh...by the way, do you know where to go? I think I've been wandering in circles for a good while."

Kyra let out an irritated sigh as she gestured for Valerie to follow her. "Follow me, This way's north, just like where they said we needed to go."

_And she's actually wanting to be a Huntress? Give me a break. _Kyra thought dryly as she started off in the direction she pointed. Valerie followed closely behind her as they journeyed off back into the trees.

_Although... _She continued to ponder, _She __**is**__ my partner. And she did warn me just in time...maybe I should try to be nicer._

* * *

Jad merrily walked into a small meadow, loudly singing at the top of his lungs to the cheers of an invisible crowd. The boy had been strolling for a good while, and hadn't seen any of the other initiates yet since before the launch. The seemingly never ending trees were getting rather dull, and he decided a good while back to start caroling.

"_Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza! Ma il mio mistero chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun sapra!" J_ad continued noisily. He recounted the opening verse for what seemed the tenth time, but didn't care as it was a good song to him.

"_No, No! Sulla tua bocca lo dir quando la luce splende! Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio che ti fa mia! Il nome suo nessun-" T_he serenade was cut short when Jad heard a loud animal cry, instantly grabbing his attention. "Ahh, finally!" He exclaimed, "Something to fight!"

Having his staff in hand, Jad quickly jogged to where he thought the cry originated from. He stopped when he had left the meadow and stopped at a wide, sandy pit. He slowly, yet not cautiously, approached the lip of the crater. Without warning, a Giant King Taijitu Head emerged from the pit, making Jad fall backwards onto his romp. He then backpedaled from the edge, clearly shaken up from the sudden reveal of the creature.

"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, NOPE. I am NOT dealing with that. ANYTHING but that." Jad shakily stated as he threw his hands in the air and quickly turned away from the somewhat shallow abyss. He then glanced over his shoulder when he heard the monster cry out in pain and anxiously shuffled towards the pit again, his body now slightly trembling in fear. Peering down into the crater, Jad saw a faunus with a long braid and long reptilian tail fending off the two headed snake with a double bladed glaive. He thought she was doing pretty well, but Jad saw that the girl was starting to slowly lose against the Grimm.

"*groaaaaaan* Why, why, **why** does it have to be snakes in the way? I'd take a giant Nevermore anyday! Or a Death Stalker! Or a Borbatusk! But this?! Uggggghhhhh..." Jad whined, debating with himself if he should jump in and assist the female faunus. His conscious won over his fear, and Jad sprung into the den, yelling aloud. "I REALLY DON'T WANNA DO THIS!"

Kicking one of the snake's heads on the way down, Jad extended the blade in his staff and positioned himself in front of the girl. The lizard faunus jumped back in surprise and watched as the boy struck the other head of the giant snake with his staff-sword.

"You, little lady, are sooooo lucky right now. On any other day you'd be snake food. I HATE snakes." Said Jad, glancing behind at the damsel. Both their eyes met and Jad gave her a friendly smile. The exchange was brief however, as the Grimm recovered and both its heads hissed at the boy. Jad focused back on the humongous monster and steeled himself for the next attack. "So," he asked, "You got a plan-ahh, I don't believe I know your name?"

"Hang on, I'm working on it. And it's Gayle." She said as she swatted the lighter of the two heads away from her using her glaive. Jad fought against the darker head and fired a blast of dust energy through the bottom of his staff, hitting it square in the eyes. The black snake hissed in anguish and recoiled away from the Huntsman. Gayle took note of the Grimm's reaction as she evaded another strike from the white head of the monster. Putting her weapon away, Gayle aimed both her arms towards the snake's face. Two buttons attached on the cuffs on her wrists slid out of the material and rested in the squares of her palms. Pressing both triggers, the small gauntlets fired twin laser beams right into the white headed snake's face. The monster wailed in agony as the heat fried the immediate area of contact. That reaction was all Gayle needed to dictate their next move.

"Go for the head! That's their weak spot! Especially their eyes! " Gayle shouted towards Jad as the Grimm coiled to strike.

"You got it, partner!" Jad replied, and aimed his staff at the black snake's face. Both heads lunged, and the warriors sprang into action.

Gayle waited until the monster closed in on her and jumped into the air as the beast slammed its snout into the loose ground. Realizing it had missed, the snake tried to snatch the lizard faunus out of the air. It was not quick enough however, and the Grimm was killed as Gayle fired her lasers into the inside of the snake's mouth. Landing on the ground shakily, Gayle looked back at the dead corpse, scrunching her nose at the smell of burning flesh. She then looked at where she expected to see Jad standing, but found no one. She then glanced up, and saw one of the most peculiar sights she had ever seen.

Jad was still fighting with the dark side of the King Taijitu, but was currently balancing atop the snake's snout. As the Grimm tried to shake him off, he simply stabbed his bladed staff into the bone like structures on its face and hung on tightly, which only aggravated the beast more. It continued to shake it's head violently, and Jad's weapon soon became dislodged.

_Aww, crap! Not good... _Was all the young man thought as he flew off the monster and helplessly watched as he was about to land in the sand pit. The loose ground softened some of the impact and but it hurt none the less to the Huntsman. Seeing its prey vulnerable, the King Taijitu used its last remaining strength in a last ditch attempt to kill the boy. Gayle barely had time to register that her partner was in danger as the Grimm attacked with blinding speed and swallowed Jad whole. She watched in astonished horror as the Grimm turned its attention to her now, it's red eyes glowing. Her body didn't seem to respond to her mind's wanting to act as the monster slithered towards her.

_Move Gayle! You can't freeze up now! He needs your help! _Gayle's mind screamed at her, but she didn't budge. The monster reared back its head to go for the killing blow, and Gayle simply waited for the attack. As the snake was about to land the fatal blow, it felt a sharp pain in its mouth, causing it to stop. Gayle watched in astonishment as she saw the jaws of the beast get slowly pried open, and to find Jad fighting the possibility of being lunch. His staff was lodged between the bottom and the ceiling of the mouth, stopping the jaw from closing.

"Ok..." Jad panted, "There is absolutely no way I'm going to kick the bucket by becoming monster chow! To hell with that!"

Jad pressed the button which extended his blade, and the sharp metal came poking through the top of the monster's head. The Grimm became limp and crashed back towards the ground. Jad crawled out of the mouth of the snake and tried to rid his clothes of the grime it had collected inside the beast. He reached back into the King Taijitu and collected his weapon, which was equally caked in thick fluids. "Ack, I hope this washes out..."

Gayle just stood there numb, not knowing how she should react. After Jad was satisfied with what little cleaning he could accomplish, he glanced over at Gayle and gave her a lopsided grin. "I know I'm devilishly handsome, but you don't have to look so gobsmacked." He teased.

"I-I-I just saw you get eaten! How else am I supposed to react?!" Gayle finally replied, still recovering from shock. Her legs now gave out and she fell onto her behind.

Jad walked over to the faunus and extended a hand. "So? I'm still here, aren't I?" He said as he pulled Gayle to her feet. "I'm Jad Eclipse. Gayle, right?"

"Yeah, Gayle Meadows." Gayle stated.

"Cool!" Jad exclaimed, " Pleasure to meet you. Now...since we're permanent partners, we'd best be off to find a relic and bring it back."

"Okay, but where should we start?" Gayle asked.

"Well, Ozpin said to go north..." Jad pondered, scratching underneath his chin."So we'll start with that." He now walked back towards the dead King Taijitu and cut out one of it's teeth, putting it inside his jacket.

"Why did you do that?" Gayle asked curiously.

"It's to add to the collection!" Replied Jad. "C'mon, we need to go this way."

Gayle nodded her head in understanding and followed Jad out of the pit. She never thought she'd have someone like _this_ for a partner, but she didn't mind at all. Life would certainly never be dull for her the next four years.

* * *

Rosalie leisurely strolled through the forest, both her weapons at the ready. A dust rapier was in her right hand with a smaller regular rapier in her left, named Lavender Thorn and Squall Areora, respectively. Stopping for a moment, she tapped into her semblance and began feeling the rhythm of the winds. She could sense the presences of all the Grimm and initiates in her area, which were few in both cases.

Picking up a disturbance in the wind, Rosalie started moving towards the unknown presences. After walking for a while, Rosalie stopped behind a tree and looked up to see a flock of Nevermore perched not too far off. They squawked and cawed amongst themselves as the two biggest birds fought for supremacy.

Steeling herself for a fight, Rosalie took a breath and called upon her semblance again. She shifted the wind's direction to conceal her scent, while simultaneously creating a small vortex around her small rapier.

Leaping from her hiding spot, Rosalie swiped her small rapier at the flock of birds. The slash made in the air was manipulated by her semblance, manifesting into a visible sharp wind current. The attack cut cleanly through the tree she was aiming for, as well as cutting a few of the Nevermore in half.

The remaining birds screeched in outrage and surprise at the demise of their wingmates, and furiously flew towards the pink haired Huntress. Rosalie readied herself as the flock flew in, secretly preparing another air slash.

The Nevermore then formed a line formation and started firing black feathers at Rosalie, trying to skewer her. It proved useless, as she just used her semblance to render the feathers to the ground. The birds squawked worriedly, and another attack from Rosalie cut their numbers in half.

Changing their tactics, the remaining Nevermore alternately swooped in to peck and claw the girl. It once again proved fruitless, as every attempt ended in them tumbling through the air as they bounced off the bubble of wind surrounding Rosalie.

"You don't seem to be very good at fighting." Rosalie taunted to the black birds, "Time to send you away!"

The air bubble surrounding the candidate began spinning around her more furiously, to which the Nevermore grew frightened and began to fly away. Rosalie let them get a good distance away before unleashing all of the energy that she'd been accumulating in one giant blast of wind, killing all but the alpha Nevermore in the blast. The remaining Grimm shrilled furiously at being beaten so easily, and quickly began flying to search out reinforcements.

Sensing that the threat was gone, Rosalie let out a long breath, and the winds calmed down accordingly. But not before sensing a familiar presence off in the bushes, hiding.

"Come on out," she said, pressing a finger into one of her temples to relieve the headache that came after using her special talent. "I know you're hiding, Sonara." She walked over to where her curious investigator was, a kind smile painted on her face.

No sooner as she arrived at the foliage, Rosalie was soon jumped and gripped in a backbreaking hug, all the while Sonara giggling like a little child.

"You found me! You found me!" Sonara cheered, obviously enjoying the fact at being found by her friend. "You always find me Rosy!"

Rosalie chuckled at Sonara's enthusiasm. "Of course." She said kindly, "How else could I make sure we were partners?"

"Partners?" Sonara asked, clearly forgetting about what Ozpin had said before. It took a minute for Sonara to remember her objective, and then started jumping up and down while clapping her hands in glee. "Oh yeah! Yay! We're partners forever!"

Rosalie continued to softly giggle at her friend's, now partner's, enthusiasm.

"Oh wait!" Sonara gasped, freezing in place."We still need to get one of those relic thingys! We should hurry! Quick, quick! Use your cool trick!"

Rosalie nodded in agreement and tapped into her semblance again. Sonara watched in utter awe as the wind shifted and swerved around Rosalie. After a brief moment, the air became calm and Rosalie looked at Sonara. "Come on," she said, "it's this way!"

"Okay! Let's...GOOOOOOO!" Sonara shouted as she ran in the direction Rosalie pointed. Rosalie picked up her pace as well, as not to lose her hyperactive partner.

_I'm not surprised in the least it was her. I'm going to be just fine. _Rosalie thought to herself as she sped through the trees, the both of them quickly closing in on their destination.


	5. Hunter vs Grimm

Ozpin continued sipping his coffee as he remained on the cliffs. He stood motionless whilst looking at the old forest below him, waiting for the students to make their way back up. While he remained there, Glynda strode up beside him, looking at a scroll that was able to see of the initiates positions.

"Our most recent pair has been formed sir." Glynda told Ozpin, placing the scroll in his hands. "Rosalie Caelum and Sonara Brunswick." She nodded in approval at the formation of the pair. " Ms. Caelum's overabundance of compassion and patience will make a good counter for Ms. Brunswick's...excitable nature."

Ozpin only nodded his head slightly to his colleague's assessment and continued scrolling through the electronic handheld.

Glynda continued her analysis. "Other pairs formed as well include, but not limited to: Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, Azure Knyte and Rember Autumn, Gayle Meadows and Jad Eclipse, and Valerie Ashe and Kyra Miste."

She took a glance at the screen where Azure and Rember were in and stared hard at the two. "By the way professor..." The teacher reported, "I tried to find any type of information regarding that Azure fellow, and I'm afraid to say...I've found next to nothing."

Ozpin raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked, "What did you find?"

Giving an exasperated sigh, Glynda began. " Well sir, he was trained by Amaranth Phlox in basic combat maneuvers and skills when he was young. However, in terms of transcripts, that's really the only bullet point. And it doesn't explain how he's here, as police reports actually claim him missing for years."

Ozpin continued listening attentively to the information, taking another sip of his drink.

"He's been to no combat school in all of Remnant, and yet has the skill to match some of our weaker third year students, statistically speaking. Also, he's...enigmatic to say the least. Just where on earth did find him?" Glynda concluded, glancing questioningly at the Headmaster.

The grey haired professor continued to stare off into the distance. "I didn't find him. Nor did he find me..." Ozpin said. Turning to face his colleague, he scrolled again through the various feeds watching the teenagers. "Were you able to get a hold of her?" He asked, not looking up.

Glynda nodded her head. "Yes, after a good while. She'll be willing to fill in when you need her and will stay at the academy." She replied. "When was the last time she contacted you?"

Ozpin gave a small smile. "Not since she graduated last year, not that I'm surprised at all." Handing the scroll back to Glynda, he turned back towards the cliffs. "Please keep me posted about the students Professor Goodwitch. That will be all."

Nodding her head, Glynda turned away from the cliffs and started walking away from Ozpin, leaving the headmaster to his own devices.

* * *

Azure and Rember continued trudging through the forest, the fox faunus getting bored at her partner's silent demeanor. They hadn't spoken to each other yet since joining up, but she didn't want to interrupt him in finding the relics.

"So..." Rember asked, her curiosity winning. "What exactly are you doing?"

Stopping his pace, Azure turned around and faced Rember. "Using a special talent."

"Like, it's your semblance?"

"No. It's something I got from my mother." Azure now continued walking in the direction that they were going, Rember following close behind. "Besides," he continued, "You already know what my semblance is."

"Right, your invisibility trick!" Rember recounted, "That was pretty cool! Too bad it didn't matter, 'cause I still found you." She smiled proudly, her fox ears twitching in response.

"You were lucky." Azure retorted, "And going invisible isn't the only thing I can do."

"Oh reeeaally? Like what, exactly?"

"You'll see later."

"Aww, how boring. Please?" Rember pouted jokingly as they walked.

"No." Azure stated, to which Rember gave a disappointed sigh. Now out of the sea of trees, the pair found that they were on top of a small hill. Looking down, they spotted a small structure made of stone in an opening in the forest below. It looked weathered and ancient, from where they were both standing.

"That must be the temple! Let's hurry!" Rember exclaimed, and she started making her way down to the hill. Azure remained at the top a moment longer, observing the area a bit closer. It didn't really _look _like a temple, just a bit of stone ruins. Not wanting to keep Rember waiting, Azure followed her route towards the structure.

The two arrived at the ancient ruins quickly, and they looked around at what the relics could be. As soon as they spotted them, both glanced at each other curiously before going back to the objects before them.

"Chess pieces..." Azure said, intrigued at the choice of item.

Sure enough, there were chess pieces on pedestals in a big circle, being either black or yellow in color. The pair both walked to the epicenter of the setup, looking at each individual piece. Some were missing from their displays, but only a few. They were obviously not the first ones to arrive.

"Well, I guess we should pick one to bring back." Rember stated, crouching slightly to look at a playing piece more closely. "Have any favorites? There's still quite the spread to choose from."

Azure stared at each individual relic closely, trying to distinguish one that stood out. After a brief moment, his eyes rested on a black knight piece. He walked towards the relic and plucked it off its pedestal, looking at the horse figure keenly. He noted how funny it was that a knight, someone who is supposed to protect innocents, be honorable, and fight evil, could dawn a color such as black. To him, black was something that represented darkness. Corruption. Evil.

He didn't dwell on it long though, and turned away from the pedestal. He strolled back towards Rember and held out the relic, signifying that he had their objective.

Rember smiled happily at Azure when she saw his choice. "Great!" She said, "I think it's a good idea to-" her speech was cut short when a Ursa broke through the trees, charging towards the pair. Catching their attention, Rember grabbed her clawed batons in a flash and Azure pulled out his bow, arrow quickly notched in the string. Just as Azure was about loose the arrow, he spotted two individuals riding atop the Grimm. He heard both of them laughing with enjoyment, and he lowered his bow.

"Hold it." He said, and Rember relaxed accordingly. They waited for the mounted Ursa to stop moving, curious as to who the other two were. Just as the Grimm was about to be face to face with Azure and Rember, a dust explosion was seen behind the Ursa, killing it. The dead monster wiped out in front of the boy and faunus, and they saw who the other two were.

It was Jad and Gayle. The pair was laughing head over heels as they climbed off the carcass, recovering from the thrill of the moment.

Dusting his jacket off, Jad looked over at Gayle with a humongous grin. "See?!" He exclaimed, "That was totally awesome, right?!"

"Hee hee. Ok I'll admit it, that was pretty fun." Gayle agreed, giving him a smile of her own.

Jad did a fist pump when he got that answer. "Ha! Told you it'd be a glorious idea."

After calming down, Gayle was the first to realize where they were, as well as the two people who were watching them with amused stares. "Hey, we made it Jad! The relics are just over there!" She said excitedly to her partner.

"HUZZAH!" Jad shouted, and started running. He then spotted Azure, the white clad Huntsman wearing a small smirk on his face, and he increased his speed.

"AZURE! MY BRO!" Jad screamed, and he unexpectedly glomped Azure to the ground, gripping him in a vice of a hug. The two friends crashed on the ground in a cloud of dust, and Azure tried to wriggle his way out the crushing embrace.

_Why does this keep happening to me...? _Azure inwardly asked himself, clearly wanting to know the reason behind all of the tackling. Jad soon let go of him and the two got to their feet. Azure then spotted his relic on the ground and retrieved it. _I must've dropped it when Jad hugged me._

Jad caught a glimpse of the black item however, and he stared in wide eyed awe at the carving. "Oooooo! That looks cool! A black horse?!" He exclaimed, " It totally reminds me of this one motorbike I've seen! Is there another one of those?"

"Yup." Rember replied, pointing over towards its twin. "There's two of each."

"Sweet! Be back in a flash!" With that, Jad sprinted over to the other black knight piece, yanked it from its pedestal, and just as quickly ran back to where he was before. Admiring it for a few moment, Jad casually glanced over at Azure and his new partner, giving one of his largest smiles when he saw Rember. "We-he-hell Azure! Nice work, you got paired with the foxy lady!"

Azure raised an unimpressed eyebrow at that remark, while Rember began laughing uproariously. "Hahahahahaha! I don't think I've ever heard that one!" She replied, clutching her sides.

"That's because it came from me!" Jad smirked, proud of his smart remark.

"It was pretty brilliant." Agreed Gayle, and her and Jad high fived each other.

"Alright..." Azure piped up, bringing everyone's attention into focus. "We should get moving. There's no reason to stay any longer."

"You got it bossman." Gayle said, and the others nodded in agreement.

They didn't have time to move however, as they heard a loud scream off in the distance. It sounded like it came from a girl and the four of them turned to where they heard the sound. Suddenly, Valerie and Kyra came bursting through the trees, sprinting towards them with varying degrees of fear painted on their faces.

"RUN!" Valerie shouted, waving her hand towards the forest behind the group. "THERE'S A BIG-A VERY BIG-" She was cut off when a colossal King Taijitu, larger than the one Jad and Gayle faced, plowed through the dense foliage and was chasing after the two Huntresses.

The four warriors drew their weapons out and began running towards the gigantic threat, much to Jad's chagrin.

"Are you freaking kidding me?! I just killed one of these!" Jad yelled as the four of them met the Grimm head on, extending out the blade on his staff.

Jad hit the Grimm first, striking the middle of the snake's body. The monster's heads hissed and both lunged at Jad. Azure and Gayle both jumped in front of their friend, each of them taking on a head and blocking the blow. The King Taijitu became stunned and recoiled from the defensive move. Seeing an opportunity, Rember shot out her whips, the both of them wrapping around the snake's heads. Pressing a button on each handle, the King Taijitu wailed in pain as it became enveloped in an electric current. The monster slumped to the ground stunned and Azure leaped into action. Pressing a button on the bottom of each of the hilts, his swords became enveloped in ice dust energy, frost surrounding each weapon. He quickly stabbed the ground where the first head lay and it became enveloped in a dome of ice. He the dashed over to the other head and did the same thing, freezing the snake to the ground.

Feeling that the threat was gone for the moment, Azure looked over at Valerie and Kyra, a neutral look on his face. "What happened?" He asked, looking Valerie straight in the eye.

"Umm...well, you see-"

"She stumbled into that _thing's _den." Kyra bluntly stated, pointing to the subdued Grimm trying to free itself from its restraints.

"Hey! How could I have known that that large crevasse was holding an enormous monster?! And I just...tripped at a bad time." Valerie grumbled, folding her arms in defense.

"Huh, talk about an unlucky break." Jad interjected, scratching his chin in thought.

A muffled hiss from the King Taijitu caught everyone's attention. They turned to see the ice domes slowly get cracks in the surface as the Grimm struggled to free itself.

Azure knew that the ice wouldn't hold for long, so he took charge. "Ok, you two go get your relic." He said to Valerie and Kyra, to which the huntresses nodded and ran towards the temple. He then glanced at Rember, who looked eager to know their next move. "We're leaving."

"Mind if we tag along?" Gayle asked, gesturing towards herself and Jad. Her partner agreed with her and nodded enthusiastically at the idea.

Azure pondered the proposition for a moment, but Rember ultimately ended up deciding. "Sure!" She said merrily, "It's a good idea to team up."

"Sweet. Let's get moving then before that reptile from Hell gets loose." Jad eagerly stated, the thought of the giant monster getting free sent chills up his spine. He then started running back towards the direction of the cliffs with Gayle following close behind.

"C'mon Azure! Let's hurry!" Rember yelled as she followed the others, and Azure nodded his head while chasing after them.

"Hey, what about those other girls?" Gayle asked as they reached the first of the tall trees.

"I'm sure they're fine. They'll catch up soon enough." Rember replied when they were all in the safety of the forest.

* * *

Valerie and Kyra speedily arrived at the ruins and began frantically looking for a relic. The pair scanned the remaining pieces to look for one that stood out to them. They knew that the King Taijitu would be free any moment, so they had to be quick.

"Uhhh...hmmm...which one should we take?" Valerie asked her partner, clearly not working well under the impending danger.

"Who cares?! Just grab one and let's go!" Kyra replied irritably.

Valerie nodded in agreement. It really didn't matter. After a brief moment, her eyes rested on a white queen piece. Not delaying any longer, she grabbed it and ran over to Kyra. She held it out for her to see and then tucked it away to keep it safe.

Kyra smiled and nodded at her partner's choice, surprising Valerie greatly. "Right, what's next?"

Valerie stood there shocked before snapping back. This was the first time she'd been nice. "I...think it be best if we follow the others." She said, still taking in the sudden change of mood of her partner.

Before they started moving, the pair heard a loud, deep caw in the distance. They both looked up at the sky to see a giant Nevermore not too far off and flying directly towards them, and they both got their weapons at the ready.

"Where did THAT come from? And why is that coming this way?" Kyra asked, feeling slightly worried at the sudden appearance of another Mega-Grimm.

"Ah, that actually might be my fault." An unfamiliar voice said behind Kyra, and the pair whirled around to see the new individual, their battle stances ready.

To their surprise, there were two of them. A girl in blue and pink with braided pink hair, and a smaller girl in green with short brown hair. They both waved to the two of them, trying not to appear unfriendly. Both Kyra and Valerie relaxed while letting go of a breath they were holding and waved back.

"It's okay Rosy! That mean monster can't lay a claw on you! I bet you could beat it just like those other ones!" The girl in green exclaimed cheerfully, a giant smile painted on her face.

"I'm pretty sure even I can't beat that one, at least not by myself." The pink haired girl humbly stated. She then looked over to Valerie and introduced herself. "I'm Rosalie by the way. This is my partner Sonara."

"Hiya!" Sonara said excitedly, still wearing her enormous smile.

"I'm Valerie." Valerie replied, a kind grin on her lips. She then motioned to her partner. "This is Kyra. It's nice to meet you!"

Kyra then interjected. "Look," She said, "Not that I'm not enjoying this...thing, but we do happen to have a giant monster in ice behind us."

Suddenly, the group heard a loud series of cracking sounds, and Valerie's heart began to race. "Right, we need to go. You two have a relic?" She asked Rosalie hurriedly, knowing the King Taijitu would soon be free.

Rosalie nodded her head. "Yes. We grabbed one before coming over here." She revealed a white queen piece to Valerie before quickly putting back where she kept it.

"Alright. Everyone follow me! We need to get back to the cliffs!" Valerie ordered. She then began sprinting to where Azure's group went, and the other three followed. Just before they got to the trees, Valerie glanced behind her to see the Nevermore and the now free King Taijitu in hot pursuit of them. She groaned to herself as she made her body go into overdrive, trying to flee from the colossal monsters.

* * *

Azure, Rember, Gayle, and Jad continued running as fast as their bodies could go through the forest. They had been running for what seemed like hours, and the soreness of their legs added to the discomfort. Darting through a large series of bushes, the group quickly stopped themselves at an edge of a wide valley. Looking down into the depths, they saw a series of ancient, weathered down stone buildings.

"Any idea how much farther till the launch pads?" Jad asked, alternating between looking down into the basin and glancing behind him.

"A good couple miles, maybe more." Gayle answered, pointing to the outline of Beacon Cliffs on the horizon.

Abruptly, Rember's fox ears began twitching as she heard an unfamiliar sound. She turned back to the forest and looked above the trees to see a giant Nevermore in the distance, the black bird flying towards them. "Guys, we have trouble coming." She said forebodingly, unsheathing her whips in advance.

The others soon saw the incoming monster and drew out their own weapons. Azure then picked up on four presences approaching their position at a fast rate of speed and assumed that two of them were Valerie and Kyra. He also felt a giant void following them and notched an explosive dust arrow in his bow, aiming where the void was. Azure then saw Valerie and Kyra soon burst through the treeline along with the two girls he saw earlier that morning, the four of them tearing away from the woodland. They soon joined up with Azure and the others, the new group desperately gasping for air.

"How far away are they?" Azure asked, his arrow still pointed at the forest.

"They _*gasp*_ not far _*gasp*_ lost snake _*gasp*_." Valerie managed to sputter out, almost about to keel over.

Azure kept aiming his bow, senses on high alert. "I wouldn't be so sure." Glancing down at the four huntresses, he gave them all an impartial look. "Catch your breath, those things will be here in a few minutes."

Valerie's group nodded as they all continued heavily breathing. After a few moments, Rosalie was able to get to her feet and smooth out her breaths. "Anyone have a plan to beat these things?" she asked, watching the Nevermore fly towards them.

The eight of them stood around in contemplative silence, not clearly sure exactly how to defeat the two incoming goliaths. The cries heard from the Nevermore and King Taijitu weren't helping their thought processes either, the monsters almost on top of them. Just then, an idea popped into Gayle's head, her eyes lighting up in anticipation.

"I think I've got something!" Gayle announced, her hand shooting up into the air. The others all turned to the lizard faunus, waiting for what the girl had planned to be known. Knowing she had the floor, Gayle continued. "Ok, I have the idea to use the Grimm to our advantage, but I need to know who's the four fastest here."

Rember stepped forward, an ardent smile on her lips. "I'm pretty fast! So that's one." She then grabbed Azure by his cape, pulling him forward to be presented. "And he's just as fast as me, so that's two."

"I'm told to be rather agile." Kyra spoke up, a confident gleam in her eyes. "So I can be the third."

Gayle smiled appreciatively. "Ok, anyone else?" She asked the remaining four initiates.

"Why not you?" Jad inquired, a sly smirk on his face. "You were pretty nimble when fighting the other snake before I showed up earlier. Man, you had some MOVES!"

"Oh...Well I guess I could be the fourth. Sure! Why not?" Gayle replied. "Right. Here's the plan…" They all huddled around the faunus as she whispered the plan to them. As her explanation finished, The Nevermore landed directly in front of the group, spreading it's wingspan and blocking out the sun. It shrilled so loudly that some of them wanted to cover their ears. As that was going on, the King Taijitu crashed out of the woods, hissing menacingly. "We all know the plan!" Gayle shouted. "Let's do it!"

With that, Gayle and the other speed characters rushed towards the King Taijitu while the remaining four initiates began combating the Nevermore. This was their last test, all or nothing.

Azure was the first to hit his target, firing an explosive arrow directly into the King Taijitu's midsection. The monster was seemingly unaffected by the strike, it's scales blackened by the arrow but nothing more. The monster's hisses became more menacing as it lunged at the archer, but he easily saw the advance coming and evaded. Rember and Kyra followed up Azure's attack by using their dual weapons to try and blind the monster's heads. Rember was able to dodge an attack from the white head and climbed atop of the head. Using her weapons to cling onto the Grimm while it tried to shake her off, she used her clawed batons to gouge out the beast's eyes, blinding it. She leaped off and landed safely back on the soft ground as the snake cried out in anguish, it's glowing red eyes now replaced with black holes. Noticing its other half to be in pain, the black head of the snake now became more ferocious in attacking Kyra, it's movements becoming faster but more predictable. Kyra was able to pick up on the monster's rage and she waited for its next strike. The King Taijitu lunged harder than it had ever before, and when it missed the white haired huntress, it's snout was smashed into the earth, briefly stunning it. Grabbing the opportunity, Kyra used her wrist blades and slashed one eye, leaving a huge gash on the right side of the Grimm's face. She then rolled over the snake's nose and proceeded to lacerate the other eye, impairing the other head's sight. The three jumped back as the monster wailed in misery and resentment.

"Now! Get it's attention!" Kyra yelled back to Gayle, the lizard faunus aiming her laser cuffs at the beast.

"You got it!" Gayle replied, and she shot out a concentrated ray at each of the Grimm's heads. The heated beams burned through the thick scales of the beast, and it enraged the monster. It began blindly slithering towards where the attack was coming from, and the four nimble initiates began running to where the others were combating the massive raven.

* * *

Jad fired continuous blasts of dust energy from his staff, trying to wear down the Nevermore. While they were hitting their mark, the Grimm didn't even seemed phased by the onslaught. The giant bird continued hovering above the huntsman, only occasionally flapping it's massive wings.

_Damn it! This isn't really working… _Jad thought to himself frustratingly. After a few more hits, a bright green light was beginning to cover Jad's body, completely shifting his mood. _Although… _He snickered, _A few more direct hits will help me end this pretty quickly…_

Spotting the change in Jad, the Nevermore let out a shrill cry and flapped it's wings once. A barrage of fast incoming black feathers were loosed from its wings, dead set on impaling Jad. As he was about to be killed however, A strong gust of wind descended upon the huntsman, blowing all of the plumage away from his position. Rosalie then jumped in front of Jad and began swirling her larger rapier in a clockwise motion, the winds swirling accordingly. Faster and faster she went until she held a swirling vortex around her sword. She then stabbed in the direction of the Grimm and the twister was loosed, growing larger and larger as in came closer to the Nevermore. The massive bird had trouble staying aloft as the cyclone came closer, it's wings not being able to adjust to the air currents. It crashed to the ground as the whirlwind hit it directly in the chest, dazing it.

"Sonara, now's your chance! Get him good!" Rosalie called over to her partner, and the girl in green grinned with avidity.

"Hehehehe! You got it Rosy!" Sonara replied cheerfully, drawing out her jian and rushing towards the grounded Nevermore. As she got closer, chunks of rock and earth were torn out of the ground and floated around Sonara in a green-yellow glow. Pointing her sword at the monster, the levitating ground was hurled at the Nevermore, shattering into dust when it made contact. The Grimm was able to recover from the wind attack and cawed furiously as it was hurt by the thrown earth, it's black plumage now having spots of brown. It tried to become airborne again but Rosalie used her semblance to use the air in pressing down the beast, pinning it's wings to the ground.

"Hey, uh, Valerie!" Jad yelled towards the silvery blue haired huntress, holding onto his hat as it tried to blow away with the windstorm. "Now's our chance to get up close! Let's get him!"

"Okay! Let's go!" Valerie shouted back, and her and Jad charged at the Grimm. Valerie got there first and bashed her shield into the bird's beak, it's head reeling back. Jad then switched with Valerie and leapt up, slashing at the base of the monster's neck. The Nevermore wasn't greatly affected and snapped its head down to hit Jad, but he blocked the attack with his staff-sword. It didn't absorb all of the strike's force, and it sent him crashing into the ground. Stunned, Jad shakily got to his feet to see the Nevermore try and free itself from Rosalie's wind restraints. The light that was emitting from Jad faded as well, disappointing him greatly. Valerie was able to strike at the wing joints with her sword a few times, but they only seemed to anger the monster further. The Nevermore became more and more agitated as it's attempts to free itself was becoming fruitless, it's cries becoming louder and louder. Rosalie tried to keep her restraints going, but she was slowly losing energy in holding such a massive creature for this long, her body hurting from the concentration she needed to have.

Suddenly, The giant Nevermore was able to free itself from its containment, it's wings swinging upwards against the torrents of wind. Rosalie was no longer to maintain her semblance and flew backwards when the Nevermore sent a blast of air towards them, sending her exhausted body backwards into the dirt.

Opening her eyes, Rosalie saw the other group running toward them, the King Taijitu right behind them. Both sets of eyes on the beast were either damaged or missing and she assumed that the monster was operating blind. Slowly getting to her feet, Rosalie tried to tap into her semblance again, but found that she was pretty much spent on energy.

_No, there has to be something left! _She thought desperately, clutching at a sharp pain in her left arm. _I have to keep that Nevermore pinned for just a bit longer, or else the plan won't work. _Calling upon her semblance again, she used the last bit of her energy to create another windstorm, pressing down the Nevermore again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Rosalie screamed as her whole body felt the stress of sustaining her semblance, pain shooting throughout her whole body. Azure and the others soon ran past the pink haired huntress, which meant only one thing.

"Move out of the way!" Rember shouted to Rosalie over the whirlwind. "It's right behind you!"

Dropping her semblance, Rosalie barely was able to dodge out of the way as the rampaging King Taijitu charged towards where the the Nevermore was. The two monsters then collided together, the sound of the impact echoing throughout the canyon below.

"We'll take the bird! you take the snake!" Jad said to Valerie, and he and Gayle ran towards the Nevermore. Valerie nodded and looked over at Kyra. She was able to figure out what her partner was trying to say and the both of them rushing at the King Taijitu.

"How long can your weapons stun that thing?" Azure asked Rember, putting an arrow in his weapon as they ran towards the Nevermore.

"As long as it needs to!" Rember replied, her clawed batons at the ready. "Just say the word."

Azure nodded and he loosed the arrow, hitting the colossal Grimm in the face. the arrow was lodged in the bone plating covering it's head the and Nevermore just cawed in annoyance. Jad then did a series of slashes across the Grimm's face and neck, cutting through the thick layers of hardened feathers. Gayle was also using her glaive to mirror Jad's attacks, weakening the entire front of the neck. The Nevermore screeched in alarm and flapped it's wings, trying to get in the air. Rember then converted her weapons into whips and shot out the clawed ends, trying to have them attach to any part of the massive beast. The clawed points dug into the Grimm's face bone plating and Rember pressed the button on each of her weapons, surges of electricity instantly enveloping the Grimm. The monster cried out in pain and crashed back to the ground. Rember's weapons then became dislodged, cutting off the electric current.

"Jad! Gayle! Hit the back of it's neck!" Azure called out, and the other pair nodded in response, jumping on top of the Grimm and wailing away at the spot Azure told them to strike. Glancing back, Azure took a moment to see the condition of the other team.

Each pair was fighting a separate King Taijitu head. Valerie and Kyra were alternating blows against the black head, while Sonara was both fighting the white head and shielding Rosalie till she could regain some of her strength.

"Just hold on Rosy…" Sonara whispered as she blocked another lunge from the snake, grunting as the continuous impacts started to wear her down. "I'll fight this evil monster till you can help." Using her semblance, she started chucking rocks at the Grimm, hitting it square in the face. The beast hissed, enraged that it couldn't kill it's prey. It dove at Sonara again, intent on destroying her. Rosalie tried to stand, but just couldn't find enough strength in order to do so. Sonara was able to stop the attack with her jian, the sword holding strong against the pressure, and she tried to drive the snake back. Both human and monster pushed with all their might, but the King Taijitu was slowly winning, pushing back Sonara inch by inch.

"Rosy…" Sonara grunted, her strength almost about to give. "You need to get up! If you don't…" She trailed off, fear now present in her voice. "I can't hold on much longer! Help me!"

Rosalie suddenly had a shot of energy and jumped to her feet, both her rapiers poised. She then dashed towards the head, leaving a deep cut just below the jaw. The monster wasn't expecting such an attack and it stopped its progression, the difficulty to breath becoming apparent.

"Now Sonara! Kill it!" Rosalie shouted to her partner, crashing to the ground after making her last ditch effort in protecting her friend. Sonara nodded and readied her sword, a deadly look in her eyes. She leapt into the air and aimed for the incision left by Rosalie. She then swung her jian as she came crashing down, cutting cleanly through its throat. The beast made a bit of gurgling noises till it slammed into the ground, dead.

"Sounds like the other two killed their target." Kyra said, shooting bullets at the white head.

"Then we best hurry!" Valerie replied, protecting herself from an attack with her shield. "I can get it, but I need you to draw it's attention for a sec, kay?"

Kyra nodded and continued shooting at the Grimm, keeping it at a distance. Valerie then looked at her sword and concentrated. Tapping into her semblance, her red eyes began to glow and the metal of the blade began to get hotter, the metal starting to radiate. After a few more moments she turned her attention to the King Taijitu.

"Alright! Switch out with me!" Valerie ordered, and she began sprinting toward the snake with her heated sword. Kyra complied and moved so Valerie would have a straight shot at the beast, but continued firing. Moving as fast as she could, Valerie jumped towards the Grimm and readied her blade. When she was close enough, she swung her sword at the monster. She heard a sizzling sound and smelled burning flesh as the blade cut cleanly through the Grimm, beheading it.

Valerie landed safely on the ground and breathed out a relieved sigh. She then decided to see how Azure and the others were doing, and she was blown away by what she saw.

Gayle and Jad were trying vigorously to expose the skin on the Nevermore, but only were able to uncover a small patch before it recovered and took to the skies again. It had done it's "Feather Rain" attack a couple more times, but the four of them were unharmed.

Azure had been observing the Grimm's condition the entire melee, and he could tell it was getting tired. _Now's my chance… _he thought, his bow now back into two blades. "Rember!" He called out to his partner. She glanced over at him waited for him to continue. "I need you to stun it for at least a few seconds!"

Rember gave him an assured smile and nodded her head. "Piece of cake!" She exclaimed and readied her whips. The Nevermore shrilled as it flapped above the group, beginning to ascend higher into the sky. Rember took immediate action and attempted again to latch onto the monster, the clawed ends flying through the air. They were able to latch around the monster's legs and she activated her electricity again, sending the Grimm once again to the ground. Azure then dashed forward and hopped on top the colossal beast, Rember stopping the electricity so he wouldn't get zapped. As the stun was small, the Nevermore recovered instantly and no longer delayed in taking to the air, the wind whipping up ferociously. It flew higher and higher until it was a safe distance away from the humans and faunus. Azure continued grasping onto the Grimm and waited for the bird to stop ascending. When it did, he swiftly made his way to where Jad and Gayle were attacking earlier and aimed his bow at the exposed spot, three arrows notched in the bowstring.

"Now…" Azure said, an intense look in his green eyes. "Fall."

Azure then loosed the arrows, each of them hitting directly in the bare spot. the shots went in the top, through the neck, and out the bottom. The Nevermore stopped flapping and began plummeting to the ground, killed instantly, and Azure began holding on for dear life.

Back on the ground, Gayle looked around for any sign of the white archer. "Where is he?" She asked Jad and Rember, not spotting him in the immediate area.

"Last I saw, he jumped on the Nevermore before it took off…" Jad started, thinking back to a few moments earlier.

Rember then looked up to see the Grimm falling limply at an incredible rate, and saw a familiar white speck against the black plumage. She then breathed in sharply, scared that Azure could let go and fall to his death. "He's up on the Grimm!" She exclaimed, pointing to the freefalling monster . "Look!"

They all looked up to see Azure holding onto one of the feathers, a calm and focused look on his face.

"We need to move!" Rember shouted to the whole group, motioning for everyone to run. "It's going to crash!" They all nodded in agreement and fled away from the presumed crash sight, all of them hoping that Azure would be able to survive.

Up above, Azure remained unfazed as held fast onto the lifeless body of the Nevermore, quickly trying to find a way to survive the inevitable impact. _I only got one shot… _He thought to himself, his grip on the beast starting to slip.

"Hold on Azure!" Valerie called out, taking cover behind the carcass of the King Taijitu with the others.

Azure then let go of the Grimm, swinging his body upwards and running up the plummeting corpse, trying to outrun the velocity.

"WHAT?!" Valerie yelled angrily, clearly not enjoying his choice of action. "Is he insane?!"

"Guess he didn't hear you?" Jad asked facetiously, grinning while shrugging his shoulders.

Valerie gave him a glare as they all continued watching as the Nevermore came ever closer to the earth. Azure had made it to the tail feathers as the body made contact with the ground, the entire vicinity erupting with sound and an earth shattering tremor shaking everyone to their core. Azure jumped off of the Nevermore just before impact, using the large gusts of air to give him more upward momentum.

Rember and the others all covered their eyes as a wave of dust filled air pounded at their faces. They waited for everything to settle down before opening them again, vigilantly searching for any sign of Azure. Squinting through the remaining airborne dirt, Jad began to spot a vague silhouette in the distance, moving closer.

"Hey Azure!" Jad shouted over to it, still squinting. "That you?" He wasn't disappointed. As he said those words Azure's white garments came into view, a cool headed grin on his lips and splotches of brown all over his gear.

"Yeah." Was all Azure said, watching all of the looks of the other initiates. They varied from sheer astonishment, to extreme joy. His small grin grew in size, savoring each of the reactions. "C'mon," He said, pulling out the black knight piece that he and Rember retrieved. "Let's get going."

* * *

It had been a few hours since the initiation, and all the students were now back at Beacon. Everyone anxiously awaited to see this year's new teams, and the assembly area and was packed to the brim with attendants, both filling the ground floor and the raised bleachers.

Azure briefly glossed over the crowd silently, Rember chatting with Gayle and Jad excitedly beside him. They had been told to find the pair with the same relic and line up in an orderly fashion near the circular stage. Each new student did as they were told and waited eagerly for the ceremonies to unfold.

Ozpin walked up to the center of the stage, the entire audience looking at the Headmaster. "I would like to thank you all. For attending this ceremony tonight." Ozpin began, gesturing to the audience. "It is no easy task to gain passage into this school. It takes years of work, dedication, skill, and a little bit of luck." He then motioned towards the initiates on the side, waiting to be called up. "These young men and women have shown that they posses all of those qualifications. So without any further delay…" He paused. "...It is my honor to present this year's new students of Beacon Academy!"

The crowd clapped in enthusiasm, ready to see the new students. Ozpin then started calling out names of the first team. " First off: Khione Blanc. Briar Tempest…"

"Ooooh, When's our turn?" Rember asked impatiently, her ears constantly twitching while she fidgeted with her hair.

"Just be patient." Azure replied, watching the line getting smaller and smaller. He then heard some familiar names being called, and focused his attention back onto the stage.

"...Valerie Ashe. Sonara Brunswick. Rosalie Caelum. Kyra Miste." Ozpin stated, the four girls walking up and assembling in a horizontal line for the audience to see. "The four of you retrieved the white queen pieces. From this day forth you will work together as Team AMBR (Amber), led by Valerie Ashe!"

"Wait...I'm the leader?" Valerie asked, shocked that she was chosen. The four of them looked up to see their pictures on a large screen, a single letter under their pictures from their respective names. Sonara then jumped onto Valerie's back, giggling and gripping her in a hug. Rosalie and Kyra both gave their own approving nods before they had to get off of the stage, Valerie having to nicely detach Sonara from her body.

"Guys! It's our turn next!" Gayle whispered eagerly, and the four of them waited to be called.

"Rember Autumn. Jad Eclipse. Azure Knyte. Gayle Meadows." Ozpin announced, and the four of them mirrored what AMBR did, lining up to be seen by the spectators. "The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as: Team KRME (Chrome). Led by, Azure Knyte!"

Azure's eye's were flooded with surprise as the news sunk in. He looked over to his teammates to see their reactions. Jad gave him a big smile and tipped the brim of his hat at him, showing his approval. Rember was happily giggling and then pulled Azure into a crushing hug, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"That's so awesome! Congratulations!" Rember said, her laughs making Azure more at ease. Suddenly, Gayle pounced on the both of them, praising Azure's accomplishment as well. Rember then pulled two of them up, as well as Jad, into a crushing hug. The team shared the moment for a bit longer before having to exit the stage, the ceremony continuing.

"I'm so happy you guys are my team!" Rember said, still having Azure and Gayle in a hug/headlock.

"Rember…" Azure whispered, not being able to breathe. Gayle was also having trouble, tapping on Rember's arm weakly.

Seeing them struggle, Rember let go of her two teammates immediately. "Whoops! Sorry." She apologized.

"It's no problem." Gayle replied, rubbing her neck. "I'm also really excited to have you three as teammates, and friends!"

The two girls went back and forth, building off of each other's enthusiasm until they were both speaking too fast for the boys to catch all of their conversation.

"Quite the partners, eh Pasty?" Jad said lightheartedly, nudging Azure while chuckling at their partners, finding their antics quite amusing.

Azure nodded at Jad and looked back to the stage, observing at the last team that was being announced.

"...And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin stated, gesturing to the last four girls. Azure felt a sense of deja vu as he saw the ones named Blake and Weiss, but he ignored the prompting as Ozpin continued, eyeing the two girls keenly.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by...Ruby Rose!" Ozpin concluded. Azure saw Ruby look shocked, as well as Yang coming to give her leader a hug, and let a small smile show on his lips.

"C'mon you three." Azure addressed his team, walking towards the exit. "Let's go get a dorm room."

"You got it." Jad said.

"Sounds good!" Gayle replied.

"Alrighty! Let's go!" Rember answered, and the three of them followed closely behind their leader, walking out of the amphitheater and in the direction of the dorm buildings.

* * *

The night was young and the air was cold, biting at the skin if left uncovered. Two men were lurking in a secluded alleyway on the shady side of Vale, making their meeting even more private. The men wore white and black garb, while also wearing a mask to look like a Grimm's face, concealing their identity. They had animal ears poking out of the black hoods they both wore, signifying that they were faunus. On the backs of their outfit was a picture of a red Beowolf head with three scratch lines behind it. They were from the White Fang.

"Did you deliver the shipment to Torchwick and get the money?" One of them asked, his pair of cat ears swiveling around to detect any incoming danger.

The other faunus nodded his head. "Yup. We should contact the leaders now." The faunus then pulled out his collapsable, holographic tablet known as a Scroll and began contacting their superiors. The scroll made it's dialing tone for a moment before a new voice was heard at the other end.

"Did you finish the job?" A deep voice asked, wanting to get directly to the chase.

"Yes sir. We got it to the warehouse." The cat faunus answered. "What's our next move?"

There was a pause before the booming voice spoke up again. "Get back to base and alert teams SWAN and GOLD that they should resume their training regiment. They need to be ready to execute a big job in a couple months time." The transmission then abruptly cut out, leaving the two grunts to their thoughts.

"You heard the boss." The cat faunus spoke up. "Let's alert the teams."

The other faunus nodded his head and tucked the Scroll away. The two then ran off into the darkness, vanishing from sight.


	6. Bets: Part 1

The birds twittered and sang in the morning air, the sunlight warming up the dorm room that KRME now lived in. Stirring from her sleep, Gayle groggily sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stretched the stiffness out of her shoulders while saying a slurred "Morning.".

"Morning." Gayle heard Azure say, and she looked over to where the boy was. He was laying on top of his bed, his hands placed behind his head. His white hair was a bit untidy, and was in his sleepwear of black shirt and grey sweatpants.

"You seem rather awake." Gayle pointed out, yawning. "How long have you been up?"

"...A while." Azure replied.

_Okaaay... _Gayle thought privately. _Really specific, bro._

Azure then got off his bed and grabbed his battle gear, which was hanging over his bed frame. "You should get ready soon." He told Gayle, walking towards their bathroom. "We got classes in an hour and a half."

Gayle nodded, pulling back her sheets and steadily got to her feet, her white nightdress a little wrinkled. At that moment, Rember awoke with a loud yawn, pulling back the hood on her onesie to reveal her disheveled orange hair.

"Gooood morning, team!" Rember said in an upbeat tone.

Gayle giggled at her teammate's positive attitude. "Doesn't take long for you to get up, does it? Love the hairdo by the way."

Rember raised a questioning eyebrow before mischievously grinning. "I could say the same for you, hurricane hair." She said wryly, pointing to Gayle's forehead.

"Whaa?" Gayle mumbled as she swept her hair into view. She soon felt herself cringe when she saw the state of it. Her long auburn locks were all frayed and tangled, making her sigh in annoyance. "Awwww, This will take freakin' forever to do!"

Rember laughed as Gayle started taking a brush to her hair. "Haha! That sucks." Rember stated. "Anyways, you know what the first class is today?"

"Ummmm…" Gayle contemplated, pulling out a schedule while she fixed her hair. "I believe that it's Professor Goodwitch first period for the four of us...Yep. And it says we need to wear our gear for that class and to bring our school uniforms to change into after."

"Alright then, best get ready." Rember said, getting out of her bunk and doing a quick sweep of their room. The dorm was still very empty, evident due to all of the suitcases of the teenagers still packed. But they still had everything they might need or want in their small quarters, including a bathroom, a small kitchen with a fridge, a changing room, and a small television in one of the room's far corners. The four beds actually took up most of the free space, and Rember had been thinking of ways to rearrange them for more breathing room since they got there last night.

Rember and Gayle's attention was then grabbed by a loud snort, both of them looking at the last bed that was still occupied. Jad was still fast asleep, sprawled out on his bunk with a pillow covering his head. He made a series of snores and grunts while sleeping, making both girls giggle in amusement.

"Yo Jad!" Rember said as she walked over to where the boy slept. "It's time to get up!" The tall boy made no response, aside from continuing to saw logs. "Jad! Jaaaaaaaad! Wake up, Jad!" Rember whispered in Jad's ear as she lifted the pillow, proceeding to poke the back of his head repeatedly. This time, the boy's body started to glow dark green, intriguing Rember.

Gayle, on the other hand, was snickering hard at the fox faunus' attempts to stir her partner. "Hehehehehe, I think you should stop now. I'm pretty sure he got the message." She said as she watched her partner continue to glow dark green.

"Not. Until. He. Gets. Up." Rember replied, each word timed to match when she poked. She had a huge grin on her face, enjoying herself tremendously. The light surrounding Jad continued growing darker and darker, turning into an almost black-green color. Shifting slightly, Jad gave the girls the best death glare that he could muster, unnerving the two easily.

"You should have let me sleep…" Jad threatened before grabbing his pillow from Rember and placing it over his head again, falling back asleep while the black light around him faded.

Not backing down, Rember continued trying to get Jad out of his bed. "Pfft, like heck we will." She said as she used her semblance to cool the area around Jad's bed, The boy clutching at his sheets to try and stay warm. "Gayle, mind if you can get me some cold water?"

"Sure thing Rember!" The lizard faunus complied, rushing over to their sink while grabbing a glass.

"Please, just call me Ber, hun." Rember said as she debated her next course of action. Taking the glass from Gayle, Rember tapped into her semblance again to cool the water just above freezing and perched it above the sleeping boy, a devilish grin on her face. _Hehehe...this is going to be great… _she thought to herself as she carefully grabbed a loose end of Jad's blanket, the glass ready to spill. Pulling the cloth back slowly, Rember's grin widened when she saw that Jad wasn't wearing a shirt, meaning that his reaction would be priceless. Inching, she tilted the cup that held the glacial water.

"I wouldn't do that." A voice suddenly said, breaking Rember's concentration and making her retract the cup. She then saw Azure standing behind her, a blank look on his face and dressed in his gear.

"Aww, why not?" Rember sighed, disappointed at being stopped.

"Because..." Azure stated, taking the glass away from his partner. "There is a way to always get him up." Walking over to their fridge, Azure opened it to find that there it was actually stocked up with food, surprising him. He then found that they also had cooking pots and pans, also impressing him. _Convenient… _he privately thought as he grabbed out a small pan and started up a burner, letting the metal heat up. As that happened, Azure also pulled out a packaged pound of bacon, opening it and placing a few strips on the heated pan. In a few minutes, the room was carrying the aroma of cooked bacon, making Rember salivate.

Jad also caught whiff of the scent, and in a zombie-like state, he slumped out of his bed and onto the floor, slowly crawling towards the smell. "Bacon...bacon...baaaaccoooonn...:" He moaned, clawing at Azure's pant leg. "Must...have….baaaacoooonn…"

"Then go get ready." Azure said, not fazed at all by the show Jad was putting on.

"...Fiiiiiiiiine..." Jad droned out as he got to his feet, grabbing his hat and gear while plodding towards the shower.

"Anybody want anything else while I'm here?" Azure asked to the females.

Rember was the first to answer. "Ooh! ooh! Cheese and mushroom scrambled eggs with chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice!" She exclaimed eagerly. "And make the pancakes look like little Grimm!"

"I'll have what she's having." Gayle said as she went to work on the last bits of her tangled hair.

Nodding his head, Azure went back to their cold storage to see if they had everything needed. Sure enough, there was practically anything that they could ever want, but there just happened to be two items missing. "...We don't have any mushrooms...and no chocolate chips…" He announced aloud. "Everything else we have."

"*gasp* What?! But...but DUUUUUDE! Cheese and mushroom scrambled eggs! And chocolate chip pancakes! How can we not have any of those two things?" Rember wailed, disappointed at the chance of her favorite breakfast not being complete.

Azure shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "We just don't. Guess you'll just have to settle without them."

Her fox ears lying flat, Rember sighed irritably. "Give me a sec, I'll be right back." Without another word, she walked out of their room still in her pj's, Azure and Gayle showing very confused looks. Rember was then back in a few minutes, holding a few mushrooms and a small plastic bag with chocolate chips. As she entered she saw that Jad was now sitting at their small table eating a plate full of bacon, and Azure was still cooking. Gayle wasn't anywhere to be seen so Rember figured she was having her turn to get clean.

"...As I said, you still make awesome-o hey foxy! Where'd you run off to?" Jad said as he noticed Rember back in the room.

Azure began eyeing the food that his partner had suspiciously. "Where'd you get those?" He asked, trying not to sound untrusting. The girl fox faunus just smiled mischievously while giving the items she had to her partner, not saying a word. Azure watched as she walked away from him before shrugging and adding the ingredients to the food he was making.

The rest of the morning went by fairly smoothly for the team. They all ate, cleaned up, and were ready for their first day of classes, still having a bit of time to spare before having to leave.

"Aaaaaaaah...Gotta say Azure, you're a really good cook!" Rember said with satisfaction, still reminiscing about breakfast.

"Thanks." Azure said, looking at his school uniform. It was like nothing he had ever worn. It was a black suit lined with gold, with a blue vest and a white dress shirt to be worn underneath, and a red tie.

"So we have to change into these after class? Ugh, this will get tedious if we'll be constantly switching clothes between every lesson..." Jad grumbled as inspected his own uniform.

"It'll be fine. They give us enough time to change and get to the next class." Gayle said informatively.

Jad continued to gripe to himself while the the rest of them checked out their new getup. Both of the girl's attire consisted of a red plaid skirt and a brown jacket with a white shirt and a tan vest underneath. Rember chose to also have long stockings with her outfit while Gayle didn't.

"Hey, anyone know the time? I don't want us to be late." Gayle asked.

Pulling out his Scroll, Azure checked the hour. Each of them gained one of the holographic tablets from the school to act as their own personal multi-purpose tool while at the academy, as well as acting as an electronic key to their dorm. "It's 8:45."

"Classes start at 9:00!" Gayle exclaimed. "Though I do hate to leave our room still not unpacked…" She glanced to their suitcases still huddled in one of the room's corners, barely touched since they had arrived.

"Eh, we'll just get everything organized later." Jad said dismissively. "It's not like we'll be moving out anytime soon anyway."

"He's right, Gayle. It'll be fine." Azure said, nodding his head. He then turned towards the entrance and opened the door, holding it open for the others. "C'mon, we should go."

The other three nodded in understanding and began walking to their first lesson, Azure closing the door behind them when they all left. It was a rather short walk from their dorm building to where they had to go, which was the Amphitheater. When they arrived, they saw that all of the students that arrived earlier were sitting up in the overhead bleachers surrounding the circular ground floor, waiting for the professor to arrive. Azure leading the way, the four of them casually made their way to an empty area in the stands.

"So this is some kind of...dueling class?" Jad asked Gayle curiously.

"To put it very simply, yes. The class _is_ called _PT and Dueling_...so I would have to say that, yeah, it's a dueling class." Gayle replied dryly, smirking.

"Heh, smart alek." Jad quipped, giving Gayle his own grin.

"You did kinda walk into that one, Fedora boy." Rember sneered.

"Quiet." Azure stated flatly, folding his arms while his eyes were closed.. "The teacher is almost here…"

As he said those words, Professor Glynda Goodwitch entered the building, stopping in the middle of the raised stage to address the students. "Morning, students. Before we begin, is everyone in attendance?" She said, looking over her class.

"Hold on!" a voice shouted, the whole audience turning. The shout came from team AMBR, the four of them quickly running up to the stands and taking a seat by team KRME. "Sorry we're late." Valerie said apologetically.

"Nice of you and your team to join us, Miss Ashe." Glynda said, staring hard at the four latecomers. "Now, to begin…" The teacher started, "Welcome to PT and Dueling class, students! Up until now, the majority of you have honed your physical prowess in your fighting talents for a long time. Let me just say to all the first years here..." she paused, giving a very serious look in her eyes. "You've all chosen to be here, so I expect everyone to put forward their best effort in this class. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch." All the students chimed, bobbing their heads in understanding.

"Good. To continue, while your main duty as a Hunter will be to protect the people from any force outside the four kingdoms, It is also imperative to be able to adapt and react to threats that have a more...complex strategy." Glynda announced, her gaze still firm. "You will learn how to fight thinking opponents, as well as how to make smart, in-battle choices on the fly. Not to mention monitoring your Aura levels simultaneously." Pulling out a scroll, Glynda browsed through the list of students. "Now, I would like for Flavia Enro and Inigo Versailles to give our new students a demonstration, so that the expectations are crystal clear."

As she said their names, an extremely pretty girl with long golden hair and orange eyes, and a handsome boy with light lavender hair and dark brown eyes got up and made their way onto the raised stage, the lights dimming except around the sparring arena. Whilst walking there, some of the boy classmates would whistle at Flavia, while some of the females would whisper excited jibber regarding Inigo's handsome looks.

Taking their spots, Flavia and Inigo pulled out their weapons and took a battle stance, Flavia having two pistol-swords while Inigo had an intricate looking, two-handed blade. Above them, all the students saw two monitors appear with a profile shot of both duelists, as well as a green bar underneath each picture.

"Alright then, Flavia my dear…" Inigo said to his teammate, readying his large weapon. "Let's give the audience a show!"

"After you, twinkle toes." The blonde replied smugly, firing her weapons.

The battle moved by extraordinarily fast. Both fighters were able to defend aptly against each other, matching blow for blow. Flavia was able to dodge the wide swings from Inigo's blade, while the boy was able to deflect incoming bullets with the broad side of his sword simultaneously.

Up in the bleachers, Jad was on the edge of his seat, impressed at the competition he was seeing. "Man, this battle's _intense_! I didn't think that guy could be so fast with that heavy-looking sword."

"That girl is pretty good too. They're both skilled fighters, that's for sure." Rember added, who was just as into the melee as her teammate.

Looking back down at the brawl, everyone could tell it was close. Both combatants had now exchanged a few blows, evident by both meters on the screens now smaller, as well turning yellow instead of green. Flavia charged at Inigo, looking to gain an opening. She swiped her swords at Inigo, aiming at the boy's mid-section, but was blocked mere milliseconds before contact. Inigo then attacked with the end of the weapon's handle, landing a blow to her gut. The blonde felt the air leave her lungs as she slumped to the ground, her mind screaming at her to move. Mustering her strength, she did as she was told and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a downwards strike from her opponent. Getting to her feet in a flash, she then fired a few rounds at the boy. Inigo wasn't fast enough this time, and was hit by a majority of the shots. He winced in pain as his aura protected him from the bullets becoming fatal, but felt it hard to continue. Seeing her opponent hesitate, Flavia jumped at her target, inflicting a flurry of fast slashes on her teammate. Taking all of the punishment, Inigo's body fell to the arena floor, where he remained motionless. Looking at the screen, Inigo's meter was now a small, red sliver.

The lights now coming back, Flavia walked up to her teammate and helped the boy to his feet, a satisfactory smile on her face. "Guess your fancy footwork didn't come full force today, huh loverboy?" she teased.

"Hehe, it just wasn't my dance is all." Inigo said, grinning lightheartedly.

"And the winner is Flavia Enro." Glynda announced, addressing the students. "Now students, can you tell me a few things that you noticed from that scuffle?" the teacher asked, her green eyes scanning the attendants.

Not wasting time, Gayle's hand shot up first. "The meter under both fighter's pictures corresponded with how fit for battle they were!" she said observantly.

"That's correct, Miss Meadows." Glynda agreed. She then pointed to the duel results. "As you can tell, each meter was designated in showing the aura levels of that individual. Mr. Versailles' aura was designated as red, and in a tournament he would be considered unable to continue. Anything else?"

Rember answered next. "Flavia was able to use her superior mobility to outmaneuver her opponent to her advantage, letting her take the win. Inigo might have been bulkier, but strength only takes you so far in some cases. Though the two are very equal in combat prowess, Flavia won this round."

"Very good, Miss Autumn. I see you're quite observant." Glynda complimented. The teacher then went back to her Scroll. "Moving on, I will be picking from a random list of first years and pit them in a one-on-one scenario, just like this last one."

The rest of the class went by fairly quickly. Two student's would fight, Glynda would ask the students that weren't competing what they saw done well and what could've been done different, and would move on to the next duel. This was the standard for the whole class.

"Seems were almost out of time, but we can do one more sparring match." Glynda said, looking at the clock. She had run through a good amount of the class so she had to really search. Her eyes then rested on an individual that had grabbed her interest since he was accepted. She then picked an opponent at random, interested to see the outcome. "This last battle will be against Valerie Ashe...and Azure Knyte."

Valerie's eyes soon widened with surprise at the news, glancing over at the white robed boy. _I have to fight...Azure? _She thought nervously. Getting up out of his spot, Azure quietly strode past Valerie and onto the ground floor, the silver haired girl soon following close behind. They then went to opposite ends on the training floor, anticipating the fight. Waiting for his opponent to be ready, Azure observed Valerie with a neutral stare, his green eyes unreadable.

"Just so you know…" Valerie told Azure, raising her sword and shield. " I intend to go all out!"

Azure continued to look at his opponent with a blank stare before pulling his hood over his face. Drawing out his bow, he separated the weapon into blade form and took a stance, holding the weapons in a reverse grip.

Above, the rest of team's KRME and AMBR were debating with each other on which team leader would win.

"I bet 15 bucks that Azure will take it, no problem." Jad put out confidently, smirking.

"Hah, I don't think so! Val-Val will win!" Sonara retorted, getting right in the boy's face.

"_Val-Val? _Seriously? How old are you? Ten?" Kyra mumbled in regards to her teammate's childish behavior, to which the short brunette gave her a heated glare.

"Both are capable fighters, as we have all seen." Rosalie pointed out, taking the middleground. "So it's best that we just wait to see the outcome."

"Nah, Azure has this in the bag." Jad stated, his conviction staying strong.

"You're certainly presumptuous about this." Gayle said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Jad just continued to smile, his attitude not wavering. "Trust me, if Azure still fights like he did when him and I trained together, this will be over quickly." He then turned his attention back to Sonara. "Still want to meet me on the bet?" he asked, stretching out his hand.

"You're on, Hat Man!" Sonara agreed, accepting the gesture with vigor. After breaking, the two of them joined the rest of their respective teams to watch the action unfold.

Down below, the two combatants were mirroring each other by walking around the edge of the ring, anticipating who would make the first move. While most couldn't see Azure's face, anyone could tell by how he moved that he was composed and loose. Valerie's body, on the other hand, was stiff and she had an underlying look of nervousness on her face.

Valerie made the first move, rushing at her hooded opponent. She did a series of slashes at Azure, but missed as the boy effortlessly blocked them all with his own swords. She then tried bashing him with her shield, but Azure nimbly sidestepped the attack, gaining the opening he wanted. Valerie only noticed that she made a miscalculation when three fast strikes were dealt to her left side, pain shooting through her torso. She staggered back and held up her shield to protect herself, but the follow up attack never came. Peeking out, she saw Azure standing there quietly, waiting for her to recover.

_Ow… _Valerie thought to herself as she waited for the pain to die down. _How did his strikes hurt so bad? I mean, he doesn't look like he has overwhelming physical power, so why did his blows deal so much damage? _

Readying her shield again, she charged her opponent once more. She eyed Azure's movements closely as she got nearer, anticipating that he would evade again. She slashed at the hooded boy, and he did as she guessed, moving only slightly out of the way. She then tried to hit Azure with her shield with her forward momentum, but somehow he was able to duck underneath the strike, surprising Valerie. She kept continuing her onslaught of sword swings and shield bashes, but she couldn't land a blow on him as Azure continued dodging all of her attacks.

Above in the stands, Rember sat with a confused look on her face, squinting down suspiciously at the duel. Gayle saw the look on her face and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Well...you think this might sound crazy, but I've been listening closely to the fight, and it sounds...weird."

"What do you mean, Ber? Everything looks normal down there."

The fox faunus' ears began twitching, and a small frown formed on Rember's lips. "Well, my fox ears can pick up even the smallest sounds if I concentrate. I can hear the swishing of Valerie's sword, even the ruffling of her gear every time she attacks. If I focus that is." She explained. "Though, when I listen for sound coming from Azure, I get nothing."

Gayle's eyes widened a bit when she heard that. Both the fact that Rember had that good of hearing, as well as her leader somehow being able to move so well as to not emit sound, impressed her greatly.

Now out of breath, Valerie stood a good distance from Azure. She stayed there, greatly perplexed at how she hadn't landed a scratch yet. Her arms felt tired and sore, and she knew that she was vulnerable. _No way… _she thought. _He's barely made a move, yet I used all of my energy trying to hit him...I'm going to have to be on the defensive now…_

Placing her shield in front of her, Valerie gestured at Azure to approach. The hooded boy accepted and began slowly walking towards her, the girl clutching the handle of her blade tightly. Azure's pace soon quickened, becoming a light jog. The distance between the two became smaller and smaller, Azure now in a sprint. Valerie braced her defensive stance, using both arms to hold her shield up. She waited for her opponent to attack, and Azure did a flying kick right into her barrier. Valerie held fast, but was soon taken by surprise as the boy wasn't trying to attack, but maneuver over her defense. When his foot made contact, Azure managed to jump over the shield, using Valerie as a grounded base. Whilst airborne, he let loose two aerial slashes aimed at Valerie's backside, the force sending the girl somersaulting across the floor.

Slowly getting to her feet, Valerie turned to her opponent with exhausted breaths. She had nothing left, but knew the match wouldn't end till one of them was down on the ground. She stayed strong however, and positioned herself to defend again. Suddenly, Azure decided to step on the gas and rushed down Valerie, the girl barely registering that he was right on top of her until they were mere inches away. She tried to counter, but was then knocked unconscious when the boy got behind her and whacked her upside the head with the flat end of one of his blades, her body slumping to the earth.

"And the winner is Azure Knyte." Glynda announced, the rest of the class stunned at the one-sided melee.

"...WHAAAAA?!" Sonara exclaimed, her jaw hanging in comical fashion.

"Ha ha! Told ya." Jad replied smugly, a superior smirk painted on his face as he sat back in his seat. "Pay up."

Back down at ground level, Azure was looming over the unconscious Valerie, his blades hanging limply by his sides. He was staring intently at the girl, seeing if she would wake up soon. Eventually, he saw her body start to twitch, and Azure tensed up when he heard an old voice in his head.

_Now. Finish it now…_

Shaking his head, Azure forcefully put his swords back in his quiver and lifted his hood up. The bell soon rang, and Azure walked away from the arena, the rest of his team following after him. Valerie was able to open her eyes to see the white haired boy leave, just before blinking out again. The rest of Team AMBR went to their leader's side, helping her up.

"You alright?" Rosalie inquired, helping her leader stand up.

"Y-yeah...Just really tired…" Valerie mumbled, feeling weak.

"Geez, he totally mopped the floor with you. That's got to be embarrassing." Kyra grumbled, frowning.

Valerie managed to look up at her partner with a small smile. "Nah…" she said. "It just shows me how hard I have to work." She then shrugged off Rosalie's and Kyra's support, feeling ready to stand. "C'mon, we got other classes today." She said with a positive tone, the four of them walking out of the amphitheatre.

* * *

"Holy cow, Azure! That was amazing!" Gayle praised her leader as they made their way to the next class, her eye's beaming with amazement.

"Yeah, you certainly will give me some competition in the ring!" Jad stated, giving his friend a respectful nod.

"Thanks." Azure said frankly, keeping his cool front.

Just behind them, Rember was with her own thoughts. She knew that Azure was talented, but that fight was a one-sided massacre. Plus, all those inconsistencies during the fight were making her very curious. One thing she left out when she was talking to Gayle was that she _did_ hear small sounds during the beginning of the fight, but there wasn't anything there when she looked.

_I know he was just as fast as I was during the initiation, but his rushdown is insane! Almost...unreal. I'll need to look for that if we duel and he puts pressure on me..._ She didn't dwell on this long though, as Gayle snapped her out of her deep thinking.

"Hey Ber! You coming?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" The fox faunus replied, and she caught up to the rest of her team. She could ponder about this later.


	7. Bets: Part 2

"Wheeeeew...finally done with classes. I think I need more bacon..." Jad said, exasperated. The last period with Professor Port had been long, and he was not liking the new outfit, the boy fiddling with his red tie. With classes finished for the day, the team had retired to their dorm, feeling tired from getting their heads crammed with information.

"You can say that. That last teacher seemed like he could talk for hours…" Rember agreed, eager to change into something more comfy. While she didn't mind the new attire as much as Jad, she never did like wearing skirts and was eager to get into something she was more comfortable in. "And what are you complaining about? You practically slept through the whole class!"

"I needed to catch up on my lost hours from this morning." Jad said matter of factly. "Man needs his nap times."

Rolling her eyes in an amused fashion, Rember casually walked over to where Gayle's bed was, the lizard faunus flipping through a rather thick binder. "What's that?" She asked, intrigued.

"It's all my notes from today!" Gayle exclaimed proudly, pointing to the small scribbles of text and sketched pictures in her binder. "I'm going over all of it for tomorrow's classes."

"Lemme see that for a sec…" Rember stated, acquiring the notes. Her eyes gradually widened as she did a brief flip through the sheets of paper. "There's got to be at least thirty pages here! And over half of it on what that Port guy was babbling about!" She declared, greatly surprised.

Gayle grinned at her teammates reaction. "It's not _that_ weird. I've always took note of everything in a class."

"Huh...Well at least get out of your uniform and help unpack everything before becoming engrossed in your notes."

"Yeah! Ya egghead." Jad added, giving his partner his signature smirk.

Gayle pouted at that remark. "Hey! I'm an academic, not an egghead!"

Shrugging his shoulders, the red haired boy tried to play it nonchalant. "Whatever you say...egghead."

As that situation went back and forth, Azure and Rember had taken the opportunity to get out of their school clothes and into their gear, as it was too early in the afternoon to get on their sleep garments. Sitting on Azure's bed, the pair were thinking on how to arrange their dorm room.

"Have any ideas?" The fox faunus asked, glancing over at Azure.

Shaking his head, Azure sat forward in thought. "You?"

"Well..." Rember pondered, "I overheard some of the teams converting some of the beds into bunk beds..." the fox girl then smiled, pleased at the idea. "So let's do that!"

Overhearing the conversation, Jad flashed a glance at Azure and Rember, his mind formulating an idea. "Ooh! Ooh! I have idea!" He said excitedly, everyone looking over at him. "Why don't you two get bunk beds..." He continued "while Gayle and I get hammocks!"

Raising a questioning eyebrow, Azure spoke up. "And just how do you plan to do that?" He asked, curious as to how he'd be able to make a hammock out of a bed.

"Don't worry, I WILL MAKE it happen." Jad replied confidently, his mind not being swayed. "Yo Gayle,wanna pitch in? You get a snuggly hammock!"

Beaming, Gayle nodded her head eagerly. "Of course! How could I not?!" She agreed.

"Sweet! Then we best get some suited attire on before we make the best dorm room in the history of dorms!" Jad announced before grabbing his jacket and jeans, off to changing.

It only took a matter of hours for the four of them to fully transform the empty living space into a personalized, comfortable home. A small, simple home, but a home nonetheless. Books were shelved, outfits hung in closets, and through some miracle, they were able to scrape together a bunk bed for Azure and Rember. In terms of unique splashes the four teenagers left on their dorm, it really reflected each individual.

Azure was most definitely the blandest in his decorating. He simply put his extra clothes in a closet and a moderate supply of dust shards near his bunk for his weapons, simple as that. Although, he happened to try and hide a certain belonging as he unpacked, tucking it away in his arms. Jad caught a glimpse of it however, and smiled evilly to himself instead of calling him out on it.

Contrasting her partner, Rember had a few more items to place. As she did, she withdrew out a small picture frame and looked at it before placing the item on the small bookshelf they had, the front facing her bedside. Inside of said image was a younger looking Rember with an even younger looking girl. Both wore big smiles and seemed to be as carefree as can be, calling the girl back to a simpler, more bright time in her life. Rember let a sad smile show as she allowed herself to reminisce on the picture for a few moments, quickly snapping back to help with finishing touches on the dorm.

Gayle had shelved all of the texts and books she had brought, making up the majority of the library. She also claimed a small desk for a workspace, as she needed a spot to herself for homework and personal projects. Ones that were too big for her bed at least. To signify her area, she placed a small cactus on the top right corner of her desk, the plant's thorns looking extremely sharp. She had also had various Dust shards lying on top of her wooden table, as she liked to create different Dust compounds.

To no one's surprise, Jad plastered his area with dozens upon dozens of motorcycle art. Posters, picture clippings, brand logos. You name it, Jad had it. Taping the last piece of art on the wall, Jad now looked to the creation of the hammocks. Both of Jad's and Gayle's beds had been thrown out by the boy, leaving only the bedsheets. Looking around, Jad pieced together his plan of attack.

"Let's see…" The boy muttered, looking up. Grabbing his staff, he began prodding the ceiling, listening intently. This grabbed the attention of the other three members, and they all looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Uh...Jad?" Gayle asked, watching her partner poke the ceiling. "What're you doing?"

"Finding the best spots." Jad answered, moving on to various areas. He repeated the jabing process again till he found what he was looking for, smiling contently. "Here we go…" He mumbled. Putting his weapon away, Jad cracked his knuckles before jumping as high as he could, his fist making contact on the ceiling. It broke through with relative ease, revealing a wooden beam underneath. Gayle jumped with a startle, sounding out some form of objection to her partners actions, while both Azure and Rember looked on with confused, yet composed faces. Smiling, Jad moved on to previous spots.

"Woah, woah, woah! What on earth are you doing?!" Gayle spoke up, covering her head as Jad broke through another marked spot, rubble falling to the floor.

Creating a third hole, Jad paused to give a confused look directed at Gayle, as if to say: _Isn't it obvious?, _before creating the fourth and final opening in the ceiling, to which the lizard girl yelled out "EXPLAIN PLEASE!"

"Um...duh. I'm looking for coins, what else?" Jad said cooly, only to crack after he saw Gayle's completely befuddled expression. "Pfffffmfmfmfmf-Hahahahaha! Aaaaaah...I'm just making the holes to tie up our hammocks! Oh but your face! Hahahahahahaha!" The boy finished, wiping a tear from his eye.

Gayle practically felt her whole body deflate as she realized his motive. Rember had broken out into a fit of laughter upon hearing Jad's remark, and even Azure had a small curl on his lips.

"Hahahahahaha! Really?! All that trouble so the hammocks could work?! There are plenty of easier ways you could've done that, ya know!" Rember managed to say through her laughing, clutching her sides.

Jad looked up at the four holes he created before shrugging his shoulders, bunching up the blankets and bedsheets. "Hey partner, mind grabbing those ropes for me so I can tie up these suckers?" He asked over his shoulder.

Gayle raised an eyebrow. When did _they_ have _rope?_ "Huh? What-oh..." She mumbled before spotting a few coils of binding resting near her feet, letting off a few exasperated chuckles and grabbing the materials. "Hehehe. Here." She replied, handing them over to Jad.

"Appreciated!" Jad said happily, and he went to work on the final part. After tieing the long ends of one of the sheets together with rope, Jad tossed the other ends over the beams and hoisted them up, the first hammock now complete. Grabbing his staff, Jad wasted no time in getting a running start and vaulting himself into the hammock, as the creation was closer to the ceiling than the floor. "Wooooooooo!-hhgn! Aaaaaaaaah..." the boy exclaimed as he landed safely in the sheets, the hammock holding strong as he shifted around to get comfortable. "Good! It works."

"Hehehehe...that would've been great if he missed..." Rember snickered, her voice quiet so only Azure could hear. The boy in white only made a small hum and blinked simultaneously in response as his own way of agreeing with her.

"Right! Now that this is good to go..." Jad said, climbing out of his hammock and landing on the floor with a thud. "Time to do yours, milady. High up? Or not?" He asked.

"As high as possible, thank you." Gayle answered, smiling.

Nodding, Jad grinned. "Righto!" He exclaimed, and he repeated the same process on the last hammock, the sheets hanging on par with his own. "There! Try it out."

The lizard faunus looked up and thought on her route. It was closer to the wall than Jad's, so she could potentially use that information somehow.

_Ehh, guess I'll try it. _She thought, shrugging. The girl then dashed at the wall and jumped. Her feet made contact with the drywall, legs pushing off as she did. Gayle then landed on the hammock skillfully, satisfied she made it on the first try. "Works for me!" she said happily, swaying back and forth while enveloped inside.

Jad's grin widened as he joined her in his own hammock again, the wood creaking as he plopped into his hammock. "Mmmm...Heeeeey Pasty..." The boy smirked, peering over at his leader.

"Hmm?" Azure hummed, looking at his friend quizzically.

"I would like to propose...a little wager. A gentleman's bet, if you will."

Perking up, Azure stayed silent, letting the boy in the hammock continue.

"Right, this wager…" Jad said, "involves the lovely but rather dangerous flower that instructs our dueling class. These are my terms: He who is first to kiss her, in whatever manner, be it lips, cheek, hand, and so forth, will be named...uhm...Well, I'll think of a badass title later. Do you accept?"

Azure raised an eyebrow. He knew that Jad could be an idiot, but this took the cake. Besides, he had no way of making him agree. "Depends. What happens to the loser?" He asked, willing to humor the ginger.

"They will have to face a punishment thought up by the lovely females of our group." Jad remarked, gesturing to Rember and Gayle. As he did so, both girls looked at each other before they both grinned a mischievous smile, eager to be a part in Jad's scheme.

Not fazed, Azure shrugged. "And if I refuse?" He inquired cooly.

Jad's mouth twisted into a venomous grin. "I will reveal, my friend, your little secret that you just so happen to bring with you…" He sneered.

Eyebrows furrowing, Azure glared at the boy.

_Pfft, sure. Keep talking... _He rebuffed sarcastically in his mind.

"To be honest, I had no idea that you had such a thing! I, however, just so happened to stumble up it the night of the raid on your bag…" Jad revealed, his smile growing even more devious.

Azure felt his heart stop. He'd forgotten about that… "No...You mean you…?"

"OH YES!" Jad jeered. "And if you want that to keep your little thing under wraps, you best accept my terms…" The boy ended, feeling extremely triumphant.

Biting his lip, Azure growled in frustration. Both girls flashed glances between the boys, Gayle wearing a big smile while Rember barely held in a fit of snickers. "Well..." Azure started, disdained. "I guess I have no choice."

"Beauty!" Jad cheered, jumping to the floor. "FOXY! FIND THE TARGET!"

Smiling wide enough for her fangs to peek out, Rember nodded eagerly. "Be back in a flash!" she announced, rushing out the door as a black and orange blur. Sure enough, it was only a matter of minutes for the fox faunus to return, a mischievous air surrounding her. "I know where Goodwitch is…" She grinned as she burst through the room with a considerable amount of speed.

"Got it! C'mon Pasty!" Jad shouted, pulling his leader into the hall by his cape, Rember and Gayle laughing all the while.

* * *

The four of them took longer to track down the professor than the speedy faunus, mostly due to Azure resisting, but they eventually found the blonde haired Professor by herself in a hallway however, and they all hid around the corner behind Goodwitch.

"Hehehe...here it is!" Jad whispered in anticipation, letting go of Azure as he peeked around the edge. "The moment of truth!"

Sighing while rolling his eyes, Azure grumbled "Let's just get this over with."

Jad smirked evilly at his leader's agitation. "I take it the females have the punishment ready?" He asked to Rember and Gayle. Both girls nodded...almost a little too enthusiastically...and the the boy in the leather coat adjusted his fedora. "Then let the challenge begin…"

Not wasting any time, Azure broke out in a mad dash, using his superior speed to get the upper hand. Jad scrambled after him, not wanting to be upstaged. By the time Jad was close to the teacher, Azure was right beside Goodwitch, who was beginning to whisper something in the professor's ear.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Jad shouted as he drew at out his weapon, shooting at Azure's feet. The Dust made contact with the marble floor and combusted, forcing the white haired boy to jump back.

"What on earth are you-!" Glynda stated angrily, whipping around before freezing as Jad grasped her hand, not letting go.

"Pardon me, Miss. I must complete my task..." Jad replied softly, planting a fleeting peck on the woman's hand. Stepping back, the boy couldn't help but notice the flurry of emotions upon Glynda's face, as well as the tint of pink in her cheeks as her mouth hung slightly agape. "Looks like I win Pa-where'd you go?" The red haired boy asked as he noticed Azure was nowhere near, perplexing him. Looking back to the girls in hiding, Jad simply stood there as he saw the boy in white up against the corner, a small smirk on his face.

_How in the he-ow! Owowowowowowowowowow! _Jad exclaimed inwardly as he felt a sharp pain in his right ear, making him hunch over. Squinting through the sensation, he saw Goodwitch absolutely furious, her bright green eyes burning.

"You, young man..." Glynda hissed, trying to stay in control. "Are coming with me. You've just bought yourself a good amount of detention..." With that, the professor dragged the boy in the fedora by the ear, down a hall to who knows where while simultaneously waving her wand with her free hand, fixing the damaged floor.

Watching their teammate being led away, the rest of KRME stepped out into the spacious corridor. "Well...it actually happened." Gayle mumbled, scratching the back of her head.

"Yup! But there's no time to waste." Rember expressed, grabbing Azure's arm. "Let's go, partner! Gayle, mind helping me?" She asked as she led their leader back to dormitories, the boy not putting up much of a struggle. Gayle nodded and wrapped her tail around Azure's torso, the strong appendage guaranteeing confinement as the girls moved with the boy in white in tow.

As the three wandered along, Azure spoke up. "Where are you taking me?" He asked.

Flashing him a mischievous grin, Rember responded "Back to the dorm, of course. You've got your end of the deal to fulfill after all..." Giggling evilly, The fox girl ignored the underlying look of concerned curiosity on her partner's face, looking ahead as the three of them walked onwards.

* * *

The trio made it back to the room with no problems, the sun now casting a dark orange glow inside the living space as the burning sphere set beyond the horizon as they entered. Both girls released their captive, and Gayle flipped on a lightswitch, flooding the room with light.

"You sit right there, Azure. And don't move." Rember instructed, shooing her partner to his bunk. The boy did as he was told with no objections, and the fox faunus led Gayle to the kitchen, making sure to work in such a manner to guarantee that Azure couldn't see what they were concocting.

Back on his bed, Azure sat forward in boredom, resting his head in one of his palms. _*sigh* I've only known these girls for two days, but I can already tell this will be..."fun"?…ughh... _The boy thought to himself privately.

On the other side of the room, Rember and Gayle worked with blazing speed and accuracy to finish their small invention. "Aaaaaaand…...all right, done!" Gayle announced, proud at her work.

"Ehehehehe...This is perfect!" Rember added, laughing deviously to herself.

Perking up, Azure tried to sneak a peek into what the females had created. "Well?" He asked, trying to appear at least a little curious. Both girls only put on ever so sweet smiles as they put the object of interest behind them, waltzing up to their leader.

"So...you ready?" Rember asked, trying to sound innocent as her devious grew to show her fangs. Folding his arms, Azure responded with a curt nod and sat back on his mattress, Only to gaze down with a neutral expression in his dull green eyes as Rember presented the...accessory. "Here it is! Now wear it!"

Trying to not appear phased, Azure glared hard at what lay before him. Resting on his lap, in all it's rainbow colored glory, was a hat made entirely out of fruit. There was the obvious staple of grapes, apples, and bananas, to what he could only assume were mangos, kiwi, and an entire freaking pineapple! Flashing a look up, Azure saw both Rember and Gayle with extremely expectant expressions, though the smile's differed in playfulness in accordance to the girl. Slowly glancing back to the hat, Azure placed it beside him carefully. "No way in hell." he stated, folding his arms.

Rember's raised an eyebrow, her jaunty smile not swayed. "Azure, just wear the fruit hat."

"Nope."

"You lost the bet, you can't back out now. It's just for an hour, just put it on and get it over with."

"Remind me again, what bet exactly?"

"Azure, how could you forget that bet? It was monumentous! Jad bet that you couldn't kiss Glynda before he did, and then he did it first. You lost, deal with it."

Azure smirked at the thought of Jad getting chewed out by Professor Goodwitch before replying. "Well at least I'm not the one who has detention for who knows how long. That's his fault for coming up with this stupid bet." He pointed out.

"Do you really think he didn't know there'd be consequences? Now quit stalling and put on the hat." Rember retorted a bit more forcefully. She would not be swayed at the moment of truth!

"Whatever." Azure mumbled.

Rember scoffed at the flippant response, not impressed. "Either put the hat on yourself, or I'll do it for you." She threatened.

"…Fine, I'll put it on." Azure sighed, shoulders drooping. Slowly, almost painfully, the boy picked up the hat and inched it onto his head, a drawn out moan escaping his mouth. "There, happy?" He asked bitterly.

"Not yet. Come with me!" Rember ordered, grabbing Azure

"Why? What're you planning?"

"PlanNING? It's already been planned. I promised Jad he'd get to see the fruits of his efforts."

Azure's green eyes jumped. "...Heh, good luck with that. I'll see you at the end of my hour." With that, the boy vanished, both girls flinching.

Rember was the first to recover. Using her fox ears, she heard her invisible partner scrambling toward the exit. "You realize I can hear you, right?" Jumping to her feet, she leapt after him as the door swung open, unfortunately getting nothing but air.

"Hearing and catching are two different things."

"They might be different, but I happen to be good a both of them!"

"We'll see…" Azure replied, his voice fading around the corner.

"Mrow!" Rember meowed, chasing after her partner, now target.

Now alone, Gayle looked around their room, the leftover fruit from her and Ber's creation scattered about. Shrugging her shoulders, the lizard faunus gathered up the aftermath and went to reorganize the larder, helping herself to a few fruit as she did.

* * *

_Wheww...I think I've finally lost her… _Azure mulled, releasing his hold on the illusion. He hadn't had to pull out a mirage for this long and escape pursuit for this long for a long time, and he wiped off the sweat accumulating on his forehead. Pulling out his scroll, the boy in white saw it had only been just under half an hour since the little game of mantracker had started. Half an hour to go till he could take the ridiculous hat off his head. He couldn't catch a break with the fox girl hot on his tail, and he had to pull off some pretty creative tricks to throw off her sensitive hearing. How much time he bought, he had no clue. Now alone, Azure took the time to look around at where he scampered off to, surveying his...rather narrow surroundings.

Azure had stopped in an old, stone, winding staircase. He had been so busy running, he hadn't paid much attention to where exactly he had been racing off to. Looking up in a way as to not spill any items atop his head, Azure began climbing the remaining steps, as he had no better idea at that moment. After a few minutes of scaling the narrow spiral, Azure was met with the cold breeze of the early evening air, The sensation rather nice to the boy. Guessing by the wind and the circular shape of the area, Azure had stumbled onto one of the school's spires, pillars climbing up the edges of the base to hold up the cone shaped roof overhead. It was here that Azure hoped he could hold out for the remainder of the time. Strolling over to the far edge, Azure took a seat upon the precipice, gazing out into the horizon. He could see the whole school grounds from up here, students skittering around to and fro like little ants. Off in the distance, the large lake that sat in front the facility that was a tinted shade of yellow from the sun, as well as the city outline beyond. It was a nice sight, to be sure.

_Well...guess it's the waiting game now. _Azure concluded, tapping his fingers on the stone. Suddenly, He thought he heard a soft, flapping noise behind him, but saw no one as he checked. Looking up, he saw no living thing stuck at the top, and began to wonder if he was just hearing things. He knew better than that though, as he also felt a pair of eyes watching him from somewhere, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Getting to his feet, Azure tried to play it off as he didn't know that there was someone there whilst walking to the center of the spire. Activating his empath ability, he sure enough felt a new presence behind...and directly above him, making his suspicions correct. Acting as if he was unaware of their presence, Azure played it as if he was deep in thought, the unknown individual hovering closer and closer. The boy then felt the fruit atop his head shift ever so slightly, making his facade hard to maintain. They probably wanted a piece, so who was he to make it harder for them? Turning the direction of the person, Azure asked "Hey, you want something?" only to fall onto the floor, a weight pressing down on top of him. He then felt a blunt pain to the back of his head, likely due to making contact to the stone floor as the fruit hat dislodged from his skull, the contents spilling out.

"Oof!" Azure gasped, trying to get up. Opening his eyes, he saw a very pretty face right in front of him, her bleach blonde hair flowing gently against her cyan eyes, frozen in shock. "Um...hey." Azure said, not sure how to react to this young lady sprawled out on top of him.

With a startled squeak, the girl scrambled to her feet hastily, reaching for an apple near her. As she did, Azure got a better look at his encountering. She wasn't very tall, with her blonde hair having black tips at the end and in two long braids. She was wearing a black skirt with a red blouse, as well as a black vest that went across her underbust. A very old, worn out cloak was worn around her neck, it's shade of red extremely faded, and pair of high heeled boots that were black and red adorned her feet. What really caught Azure's attention however, were the black, leathery wings that protruded out behind her, as well as the two small, fang-like teeth protruding from her upper lip. This girl was a faunus. A special kind faunus no less, as she had bat wings on her back. By the look of it she had to be the same age, if not a little older than himself. Breaking the silence, Azure ventured a question. "You alright?"

"N-no! You scared me!" She responded heatedly, not looking directly at the boy while her face flushed. "W-why did you do that?!" She asked, stumbling on some of her words as she diligently avoided eye contact.

"I could ask you the same thing regarding why you were trying to pillage from my...ugh, hat." Azure retorted, catching the girl's awkwardness but deciding not to address it at the moment. His eye's trailing off to Gayle's and Rember's fruit hat, Azure bent down to put it back together as best as he possibly could. "Excuse me…" He pardoned, beginning the repair process.

Anger being replaced by idle curiosity, the bat girl inched closer, nervous around Azure for some unknown reason. Watching the boy replicate the accessories previous state and place it back on his head, she then averted her gaze and blushed profusely yet again when Azure turned his attention back on her, the hunter now feeling...confused, to say the least. "You...sure everything is alright? You seem...scared of me."

_Not that I would blame her… _Azure added privately. This girl was _**really**_ nervous around him, for reasons he just couldn't put his finger on.

"What? Uh, no no! I-uh-I'm just...ummm…*sigh* it's complicated…" The girl stammered, her body deflating a bit.

Shrugging, Azure turned back to where he was looking a few moments previous. "Whatever. Well, I'm Azure." He introduced, sitting back on the edge of the spire.

The winged faunus observed the boy in white with careful eyes. She always seemed to have weird problems around boys, but the longer she spent with this Azure guy, the faster the shyness went away. However, the pace of her heart was still just as fast as it was around other guys, so there was that. "I'm, uh, I'm Carmin." She responded, sitting on the same ledge, yet as far as she could away from Azure. Fumbling with the apple in her hand, the girl ventured meekly "So...mind telling me why a guy wearing something meant for a hot beach is all the way up here?"

Azure drew out a long breath before answering, scratching his collarbone. "Long story…" He said bluntly. "Why're you here?"

Laughing sheepishly, Carmin also let out a long, tired sigh. "It's also a long story." She stated, fiddling with the apple in her palms more, flashing quick glances in Azure's direction before just as quickly focusing back on the fruit in her possession.

Azure smirked, letting out an amused huff. "I see."

"Azure…" Carmin mumbled, testing the word. "Like, the shade of blue?"

"Heh, no. Try white."

"Wait, there's a shade of white that's called 'Azure'?"

"Apparently."

"Huh, no kiddin'."

Azure let out another chuckle. "Heh, yeah. My aura is blue though."

"Ooo! Really? That's cool!" Carmin stated excitedly, genuinely intrigued.

"Meh. Not as cool as the wings you got." Azure replied, pointing to the extra attachments

"Huh?" Carmin mumbled out, looking back to see her black wings protruding out from under her cloak. In a whirling tizzy, The faunus folded in her appendages, the additions now hiding underneath the tattered fabric. "O-oh! U-umm, yeah! They're really, uhh, something…" she replied shyly, nervously fiddling with her cloak.

"...Don't be so embarrassed, It's what makes you who you are." Azure murmured, his green eyes going unfocused.

Carmin caught the glazed look on Azure's face, intrigue sparking in her own green-blue irises. "You really think so?" She asked innocently.

Eye's coming back to life, Azure looked over at Carmin to address her. "Yeah." He confirmed, nodding his head once. The girl gave an appreciative smile, her heart fluttering again. The feeling made her silently panic, but she didn't seem to go into her normal response, which would have been to fly away as quick as she possibly could.

"Thanks...that's really kind of you." Carmin recognized sincerely, a lopsided smile painted across her lips. Azure responded immediately in kind with a simple nod of the cranium and the silent treatment.

Both of the teens then spent the rest of the time in silence, each of them contempt with just staring at the sunset. After a bit however, Carmin abruptly turned her attention to the opening of the stairway, whole body alert. "I hear someone coming."

Not wasting time, Azure turned his unique ability on, waiting for his senses to expand downwards. Sure enough, two individual presences were making their way up. As to who they were, Azure didn't know. "I sense them. I don't think they're coming for me."

Carmin raised a questioning eyebrow at how Azure could supposedly 'sense' the approaching people before figuring out instinctively who was coming up. "Oh! That's probably for me then."

"I see. Well, I better go." Azure said, getting to his feet. "Go ahead and keep the fruit. It's fine."

"Uhh...thanks, I guess." Carmin responded before the air was rung by a new, much more loud voice.

"HEY CARMIN! YOU UP THERE?

"The bat girl's eyes widened as her heart started beating fast again. She knew who that was. "Y-yeah Inigo! I'm -uh- I'm here." She then glanced to where Azure was, only to jump in alarm when he wasn't there, or anywhere on the spire for that matter. "Where..." she mumbled in confusion, only to be picked up from behind in a tight hug, a "Hhgrck!" sound escaping her mouth.

"There you are! Honestly, what's with you flying off on us all the time? It's not like loverboy is THAT ugly." A feminine voice teased, squeezing the bat faunus tighter.

"Huh? F-Flavia?" Carmin asked, twisting her head around to see the golden haired, orange eyed girl with a big, wry smile on her face.

"What? You wanted someone else hugging you?" Flavia jabbed jokingly, letting her teammate go while her smile turned sly.

"N-no! I was just surprised!" Carmin retorted, brushing herself off.

Flavia just continued to grin as Inigo strode up confidently to his teammates, Carmin hiding behind her team leader. "There you are, Min. You certainly like coming to this spot when hiding from me." He pointed out, grinning lightheartedly.

"Eh heh, yeah...might just need a new one…" Carmin mumbled to herself, clutching Flavia's arm tightly.

"Aw, what's with the standoffish gesture? I just want to get to know you better! And frankly, I'd settle for a nice chat over a cup of tea." Inigo replied, trying to make his intentions sound pure.

"Ignoring Ini's attempt to flirt with you…" Flavia spoke up, the boy in lavender giving her an annoyed look. "You gotta at least try and be part of the team, Carmin, and that means that you have to know how to work with ALL of us, not just me." The girl stated, her wise-cracking nature now gone with a serious one in it's place. "So...just try to loosen up a bit, all right? 'Cause if lover boy here misbehaves, I'll clean his clock myself." She grinned as Inigo let out a nervous laugh to her comment.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, an invisible individual had been eavesdropping on their entire conversation, as well as getting a more detailed look on the other two he had seen earlier that day.

Azure could tell that Flavia was extremely comfortable in her looks, as her own outfit left little to the imagination. She wore a yellow sleeveless shirt with a black outline that was cut off to show her midriff, as well as an open, brown leather jacket that went as far down her back as her shirt. Orange pants cut off at her knees were on her lower half, as well as reddish brown shoes placed firmly on her feet. Other than that, the only extra thing that the girl had on was a brown belt with a single pouch attached, probably a place to clip her weapons on.

Inigo was quite different in his clothing choice. The boy wore a dark blue, long sleeved tunic with an upturned collar, bluish purple pants, and lavender boots that came up past his knees with silver greaves covering the front. On his forearms, blue leather arm guards were secured tightly, the tips of his fingers exposed, as well as a purple and white pauldron fastened over his left shoulder.

"Well, come on back with us!" Flavia said, flinging an arm over the bat faunus. "Aaron probably has some food waiting for us. Maybe some apple pie…" She added, smiling slyly.

Carmin's eyes widened at the thought of pie. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" she said excitedly, gliding over to the entryway. "Let's go before it's gone!" She exclaimed, ducking in. Flavia and Inigo both followed after her, leaving a now uncloaked Azure alone.

During that whole exchange, Azure had been thinking to himself. About what that Flavia girl said. They had their differences yes, but in the end, they were a team. That wouldn't change. He was the leader for his own team, and while this wasn't the first position of leadership he had had before, something about what those three shared was different.

_Hmm...Haven't really been doing a great job of a 'leader' so far… _Azure thought to himself. After a bit more reflecting, the boy nodded his head once and made his way to the winding staircase, knowing full well what he had to do. Glancing back to his scroll, there was fifteen minutes left. _Good. There's still time. _

Going as fast as he could without hurting himself, Azure soon arrived back on the ground level of the school, resting on a wooden bench that happened to a line on one of it's many walls. Closing his eyelids, he picked up a certain someone's presence with his empath ability, bracing himself for what he assumed a rather violent encounter. As the feeling got closer and closer, Azure did nothing but sit there as a person jumped onto him, pouncing with no regard to what would happen after. Opening his eyes, Azure only looked at the girl fox faunus latched onto his back, a victorious smile across her face. "Looks like you've got me." Azure stated plainly.

"Exactly." Rember replied smugly. "Now you HAVE to-"

"I know." Azure interrupted, raising his hands in defeat, yet not upset at being caught. "I won't run. Lead on."

Surprised at first before her satisfactory smile returned in full force, Rember nodded in agreeance, climbing off her partner and directing him onwards. The pair hurriedly walked around the twists and turns of the spacious halls of the academy until Rember stopped at a particular room, grabbing the doorknob and giving it a twist. As it opened, Both teens saw a rather amusing look. Jad was front row center in one of the seats of the lecture hall, bored out of his mind. At the front desk, was Professor Goodwitch, the teacher doing something on a Scroll. Both turned their attention to the pair before looking at just Azure, the fruit turbin extremely standing out.

Glynda only flashed a mixed look of intrigue and confusion at Azure before asking plainly "Is there something I can help you two with?"

Rember waved her hand while smiling sweetly. "We're just here to pick up our teammate!" She said innocently.

"I see." Glynda responded, checking the time. "Very well, but he's to come straight back here after classes tomorrow." She ordered, cleaning up the things on the desk. As that happened, Rember and Azure strode up to Jad, the fox faunus smiling complacently.

"So…" Rember ventured, gesturing to Azure. "What to you think, Jad?"

Jad simply stared at the boy in white, looking slightly confused. "What do I think of what?"

Rember was a bit thrown off by the statement. "Uh...Of how Azure looks, of course." she stated, nudging her partner with her elbow.

The boy in the fedora only shrugged. "He looks nice." Jad complimented, sitting back in his seat.

"...And…?"

"And...he's quite dashing."

Rolling her eyes while making a beyond over dramatic sigh, Rember said in an impatient voice. "No! I mean..._How does he look?_" She emphasised, really motioning towards her partner.

"And I said he looks nice! What, you want me to say he's handsome?" Turning to address his friend, Jad said with a warm smile "Azure, you are one of the sexiest boys with the best skin complexion ever! Honestly, I'm surprised that any girl you come across aren't throwing themselves at you."

Glynda frequently made side glances at the trio of students, a bemused look on her face. "Well...I'll be going now." She announced, grabbing the teens' attention. "You kids stay safe." With that, the professor exited the room, the sound of the closing door echoing throughout the theatre.

There was a small pause, and then...raucous laughter.

"...Pffft, BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Jad's cackling reverberated off the ends of the enclosure, the boy shedding tears and rolling around on the floor. "HAHA-Oh, that-HAHAHA-has to be the best thing-Haahaha-that I've **ever flipping seen**! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!"

Azure just stood there and took it all in, not willing to be phased by his teammate's chortling. "Glad you got a good laugh." He admitted. "So you ready to go?"

"Hehehehehe, just gimme a minute." Jad giggled, getting to his feet. The boy then pulled out his Scroll and pointed it at Azure, a devious smile present. "Need to put this in the scrapbook!"

"...Alright." Azure agreed, giving Jad his own victory. "Make it quick."

Nodding enthusiastically, Jad took a series of pictures of the boy in the fruit hat, Rember snickering evilly as he did. After he was finished, the boy in the fedora stuffed the electronic appliance in his coat. "Right, I'm happy!" He said merrily, strolling out of the classroom. "Let's go!"

Rember and Azure both nodded once and followed after him, the former of the pair taking off his colorful hat as he walked. Today had certainly been an eventful day. Little did they know, it would only get worse.


	8. The Paper Menagerie

It was a beautiful day at Beacon, the burning sun high in the cerulean sky. Unfortunately, none of the students in class could tell. It was Professor Peter Port's time to teach all the young minds present in his classroom, but he had only succeeded in engrossing himself in one of his long, rather bombastic stories. Up in their seats, Team KRME sat in silence, each individual member passing the time in their own way. Azure laid back in his spot, coolly listening to the teacher's story. Rember and Gayle had their binders open, but while the lizard faunus wrote down notes, the fox girl doodled. Jad, in the typical Jad fashion, was on the verge of falling asleep, his eyes barely open.

"So there I was, my back against the face of the mountain, staring down the eyes of my prey!" Port declared, his round figure bouncing around as he vigorously told his tale. "And with one lightning fast motion I..."

Azure tried to follow what the professor was saying, but all he could hear was 'blah blah blah'. Sighing softly to clear his head, Azure nonchalantly glanced beside him. Catching his eye, he observed something...off about the youngest member of his team. Usually, Gayle would be furiously writing down all of what Port said in great detail. But today, she didn't seem to have any energy and only half heartedly jotted down her notes, with only half of the usual number of pages filled.

Leaning over carefully, so as to not draw attention, Azure whispered to his teammate "You alright?"

Gayle flinched, startled by the unexpected voice. Upon realizing it was only her team leader, she sighed and relaxed - mostly. "I don't know, it's just...a lazy day, I guess." she halfheartedly shrugged off the question, pencil still traveling the page at a sluggish pace.

Azure's eyes narrowed a fraction, trying to read Gayle's body language. She seemed okay, but something just didn't sit well with him, even if it had only been a month since they met, and only knew so much about the girl. "If you say so..." He replied reluctantly, focusing back on the 'lesson'.

Not a moment later, Rember nudged his arm. "Hey Azure…" she whispered.

The boy shifted his attention to his partner, curious. The fox girl slid the page she had been drawing on in front of him, smirking proudly at her work. Azure cracked a smile when he saw an impressive picture of a mountain forest, complete with a waterfall in the background.

"Nice." Azure complimented, giving the faunus back her creation.

The rest of the remaining class went by just as dull as before, everyone except the professor on the verge of going comatose from the excessive droning of their teacher. Thankfully, the bell for lunch eventually rang, snapping all the students out of their trance.

Port however, wasn't even close to finishing his tale. "AND THEN-Ah! Oh...out of time again." He mumbled, disappointed his class was done. "Well, I hope you've all learned a lot today! And remember, you have a test next week, so study hard!"

Gayle trailed alongside the team as they ventured through the halls, humming distractedly and nearly tripping on several occasions. Jad and Rember were engulfed in an intense discussion about the vital role of bacon in a proper morning diet, determined to coerce their leader into cooking it for them every morning for the foreseeable future.

Several moments of heated breakfast debate later, the four of them arrived at the cafeteria. Even Gayle perked up at the enticing aroma wafting from within, and they all simultaneously quickened their pace.

"What's on the menu for today?" Rember asked eagerly, ears swiveling forward in anticipation.

"I don't even care, man, whatever it is I'll take it! I am STARVING!" Jad exclaimed dramatically.

"I agree. Food would be nice..." Azure nodded, scoping out an empty spot at a table for them.

Suddenly, Gayle halted. The other team members glanced back, confused by the abrupt stop, to find their youngest teammate staring straight ahead with wide eyes.

"Oh no…" the faunus girl whispered, before remembering her team's presence and looking up at their concerned glances, "Uhm, I-I think I left something back in the room!" she stuttered hurriedly, before dashing back out of the cafeteria. Azure and Jad exchanged a confused glance, and Rember was still staring in the direction Gayle had fled. None of them noticed the satisfied smirk of another student across the room, nor the laughter of his team as the little lizard girl swiftly exited.

"Uh...What was that about?" Jad asked his team, looking at where his partner had scampered off.

Azure shrugged. "Not sure. She has been acting weird recently."

"Like, more than usual? Or different weird?" Jad inquired.

"Don't know...She'll tell us if something's up though." Azure stated, leading the other two members towards the food. After stocking up, they all found an empty spot for the four of them, getting down to work.

* * *

The library door slowly pushed open, and Jad hesitantly peeked his head inside. Classes had been over for a while, and his partner had hastily made her exit the moment the bell rang. This was the last place he thought to look, so he hoped she would be in there somewhere...

"Gayle?" he whispered, voice instantly fading as soon as he caught sight of the vast room before him. Tentatively, he pushed the door further and stepped inside. With no small measure of caution, the boy warily delved deeper into the great hall of the library, staring in wonder at the impressive height of the multi-story shelves. Gayle had really been acting strange recently, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Woah…" he breathed, awestruck, "So this is what libraries look like on the inside…"

Far above him, Jad heard a small giggle. He whirled around, searching for the source of the laughter, only to have his face acquainted with a gently descending paper flower that was dropped from the upper level.

"Psst! Up here!" a soft voice whispered from the floor above. Jad brushed aside the origami flower and craned his head upwards to see the diminutive form of his partner on the higher level, leaning over the balcony. She stuck out her tongue at him and then retreated out of view.

Jad frantically beckoned his partner to come back. "Gayle!" he hissed, struggling to keep his voice down so as not to draw (more) attention to himself. Her head popped back into view over the balcony with a bemused expression

"Come on up, bro. I can show you what I've been working on!" Without waiting for a response, the faunus girl extended an arm over the balcony and dropped another little paper flower.

Her partner smirked as he reached up to snatch it out of the air. Holding the intricately folded structure in his palm, he raised it to eye level to inspect it up close.

"It's so tiny!" he exclaimed gleefully, poking the miniscule petals.

Gayle grinned from her perch at the balcony. "I've got way more up here, come on!" she called down before disappearing again.

"Uhm…." Jad looked around, utterly lost in this foreign world of literature and learning. "...how?"

Seconds later, heavy boots landed with a thud on the carpet of the upper floor. Gayle jumped at the sudden noise, sending papers flying across her table.

"Hey Pipsqueak!" Jad greeted merrily, brushing off his jacket (unnecessarily).

"Jad! That was...surprisingly quick. I didn't realize you were so adept at navigating the library!" Gayle exclaimed, reordering her paper menagerie that lay sprawled across the desk. "Quite honestly, I wasn't sure you even knew where the stairs were."

Her partner smirked and pulled up a chair. "Nah I just vaulted up the pillars. Those tapestries have pretty good grip!"

The faunus girl paused momentarily, hand hovering above a delicately folded paper dragon. She opened her mouth as if to comment, before shrugging it off and silently resuming her task.

"So..." Jad began after a moment of silence, "you saving up for a wish?"

"Hmm? Oh, the paper folding." Gayle smiled and settled into a chair, finished reorganizing her supplies. "Nah, it's just something I use to do as a kid. I was thinking back to, uhm, my hometown and remembered when...my friend and I used to make things like these all the time.." she sighed, folding her arms across the table and resting her chin on top. "Besides, it's not actually possible to earn a wish, regardless of how many paper stars you fold."

Jad picked up a minute paper butterfly, "But they're all so adorable!" he said delightedly.

"Yeah...so hey, you've got a decent percentage of muscle mass! Want to help me carry my books back?" Gayle straightened up in an instant, back to her usual bright demeanour. She stood up and started shuffling all the crisply folded figures into a pile, tail tip twitching almost imperceptibly as the rest swayed along with her movements.

Jad wasn't blind. In the short time he'd known her, he had grown acquainted with his partner's attitudes. He had a particular eye for physical cues, and he could read the tension Gayle carried in every line of her body. She was projecting an air of optimism, but something was bothering her.

Unsure of how to best broach the topic, he tried for an indirect route first.

"So hey, Foxy wants to go into town tomorrow, and Pasty has given the green light. You wanna tag along? We could all go for ice cream, it'll be one of those team bonding things or whatever!"

"Oh, uhm..." Gayle rubbed the back of her neck in a show of obvious discomfort, "I...I've already got plans for the weekend."

Now he knew something was up for sure. Not only was she now avoiding eye contact, but the Gayle he knew would never turn down an opportunity to have fun with the team.

"Got a hot date lined up?" he joked, hoping to make her smile at least.

"Nah, just some, uh, personal studying." Gayle reached down beside the table and procured a huge stack of books. They were dropped onto the table with a thud, joined by several more not a second later.

Nobody questioned Gayle's 'personal studying'. It was a common habit for the faunus girl, but the rest of KRME unanimously agreed that this was ridiculous.

Not pushing the topic further, Jad acted like he didn't notice Gayle's evasiveness. "Aww, too bad. I was looking forward to introducing myself to the guy!" He joked, cracking his signature smirk.

Ever since returning from the library with her arms full of books and her bag full of paper, Gayle had constructed a veritable fortress of tomes in her corner of the room and soon retreated inside her covered hammock-nest.

KRME had hardly seen their youngest teammate for over a day, excluding the long red braid dangling from her nest. They did in fact go out to town for ice cream, sans lizard, and when they returned they found their dorm room littered with paper stars and other assorted origami creations.

A couple of half hearted jokes were made about the situation, but the only response from Gayle came in the form of several more folded creations being expelled onto the floor from her hammock-nest.

* * *

**I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! sorry its been so long. Life got really hectic. SO HERE'S SOMETHING I SHOULD HAVE POSTED BY NOW. Oh! And all the other chapters have been cleaned up.**

**Hopefully i'll be able to post more consistently in the future.**


	9. Snakes and Lizards

"So bossman, what'd ya think?" Gayle asked her team leader, watching the boy twiddle the crystal she constructed with his hand.

KRME was in Professor Port's classroom, waiting for the lesson to start. Gayle had finished making a set of experimental Dust crystals earlier, and was looking for willing volunteers to help test them. The first people she had in mind were her partner and leader, which brought them to now.

Azure kept playing with the shard, taking note of its silvery grey color. "...Depends. What's it do?"

"Weeeeellll...I'm not sure yet."

"But you made it!" Jad piped up, "How can you not know what it does?"

The lizard faunus fumbled with her braid sheepishly, almost nervously. "These I just kinda...threw together? If my hunch is correct, that one in particular should-" the young girl was cut off as professor Ozpin abruptly stepped into the room, the whole class going quiet.

"Hello students." Ozpin said, looking over the teens and young adults in the lecture hall. "I need all of your attention for one moment, please."

Everyone in attendance perked up. This hadn't ever happened before, at least to their knowledge. The students only ever saw the headmaster during assemblies, in his office, or around the halls on occasion. So to have him here was something different in the young adult's routines.

"I am here to let you all know that Professor Port is out on business, and will be gone for a short amount of time." Ozpin announced. "During that period, I have asked a recent graduate from this school to act as a substitute..." the teacher then motioned to the door, a petite figure stepping into the room. All eyes studied the person as she turned on her heel to face the class a few feet away from Ozpin. The woman appeared bored, gazing out with her grey eyes in apparent disinterest. A few of the students even noted the way her dark purple hair was up and the manner of her dress was quite reminiscent of how Professor Goodwitch dressed, but they only kept it to themselves.

"This is Asha Vyper." Ozpin introduced, motioning to the woman beside him. "She graduated from last year's batch of fourth years and kindly accepted to take the time out of her life to take this position. I expect all of you to give her the same respect that you would with any other members of the staff. Understood?" He inquired to the class in a serious manner.

There was a collective sound of agreement from the classroom, and Ozpin cracked a casual smile.

"Good." The Headmaster grinned. "I'll leave you all to it then." Ozpin then silently left the room, balancing on his cane as he moved. As the room went quiet, Asha cleared her throat, all eyes on her.

"Good morning." Asha began, but she knew she didn't sound like she meant it. "As you are aware, I'm Miss Vyper. Professor Port is otherwise engaged and so I am teaching his class today. For those who call me anything else besides Miss Vyper...you will find yourself in a very unpleasant circumstance."

The young woman paused before continuing.

"I will be taking over Professor Port's class until his return to Beacon. What happens after is anyone's guess. Any other questions before we begin?"

"I have one." Gayle said, raising her hand, "When is Professor Port coming back?"

"He should be back before the middle of next week. Unless he is unavoidably detained. Any others? Or is Miss Meadows the only one awake enough to ask anything." Asha replied curtly.

"Nope, we're good." Jad replied, resting his head onto his notes. "Continue on."

As the boy got comfy, Azure was observing closely as the teacher's impassive face turn into a scowl.

_Jad… I don't think that's a good idea… _Azure thought privately, watching the restrained anger in Asha's grey eyes, which seemed to turn them physically red.

Knowing that the flick in her wrist was barely noticeable, Asha felt quite the satisfaction as Jad froze mid-breath as the dagger she threw pierced the wood through his notebook about a centimeter away from his nose.

"Let's get one thing very clear. I am not like Professor Port. Sleeping is not something I am willing to tolerate. If you wish to sleep through this class you may leave the room. Your absence will be taken note of and put in your record. I don't care if you do nothing but draw in your notebooks, I don't care if you don't listen to what I teach, but you will not sleep in this class or you will wake up somewhere you would otherwise never go." Asha looked out the window to show she meant just outside the classroom. "If you fool around in my class I will find something else that you will find much more important for you to do. Do I make myself clear?"

Jad gave his head a quick nod, sitting as straight as he could in his seat. The other members of the team smiled or snickered to themselves at how fast he decided to behave. This lady was not to be trifled with.

_I like this girl... _Rember thought to herself with a grin. She wasn't afraid of Ms. Vyper. On the contrary, she thought she was quite the bad ass! Definitely a breath of fresh air.

"Good." Asha walked up to the desk which housed the unfortunate Jad and retrieved her knife. "Now to start, does anyone have a favorite Grimm creature? One they find more interesting than the others?"

The entire room stayed silent. No one dared to move a muscle, as to not risk having a knife thrown at them. Amidst the quiet, Azure slowly raised his hand.

"I have one." the boy responded. As much as he didn't want to, he'd break the ice for everyone.

_Drat! Beat me to the punch. _Rember commented to herself. She'd now have to wait for her turn.

Realizing she had been a little too thorough in her making sure she had control over the class, she gave the one student brave enough to answer despite it all a brilliant smile she knew lit up her whole face. She also knew this would make her appear the age of the students, but at this point it was worth the risk. "Thank you Mr. Knyte, which one?"

Azure paused for a split second, a little surprised. She certainly came prepared if she already knew the attendants names without hesitation. And her smile threw him off a bit. He didn't dwell on it long, and answered the question in a plain voice.

"...I personally have two, the Nevermore and the King Taijitu." Azure stated.

Jad, Rember and Gayle all glanced over at their leader in interest, intrigued that he, of all people, decided to speak up.

_Holy crap, he finally decides to talk! That's been like, what, two weeks now? _Jad pondered to himself, wondering just what force on this earth made him talk. While the boy talked rather easily in private, Azure almost never spoke in class. So it without a doubt surprised Jad and the girls.

"What traits make you more interested in these two Grimm, Mr. Knyte?" Asha asked. If she kept the focus more on the students and acted like she cared (which she did despite appearances) they might be willing to speak and this class would actually mean something to them. She did remember what Professor Port's classes were like after all. Boring, empty, and rather annoying. She quickly pulled up two holograms of the Grimm Azure mentioned, picking some images she liked.

Pointing out the holograms from his seat, Azure made his assessment of the two Grimm, "The Nevermore has always held my interest because it's avian. Birds have always fascinated me. The King Taijitu has two halves, both a black and white side, and are joined in the middle. That has been something to make me like it more. I also like it's resilience, and how much of a challenge it can be to beat one."

Wrapping up his analysis, Azure folded his arms and settled back in his seat. The silence had now been redirected from the previous incident with the dagger, now to the shock of Azure speaking full sentences in public.

After that, the class was rather un-noteworthy. More and more people participated in Miss Vyper's little activity, and then the substitute continued teaching where Port had left off till the class ended. The students then all filed out of the lecture hall, and Jad shook out all the tension in his body.

"Oh thank God, we're out..." the tall young man exhaled, deflating. "I thought it'd never end..."

Rember grinned devilishly. "Hehehe, the new teacher scare you, Broki?" She teased, nudging him with an elbow while winking at him.

Jad scoffed dramatically at the remark. "What? Of course not!" He retorted. "The knife only gave me a start. Besides..." He then slyly smiled, stroking his chin playfully. "I was too busy thinking how attractive she looked. I mean, I really dig that pencil skirt..." He said, smirk widening.

Azure facepalmed himself while Rember clutched her sides from laughing, and Gayle raised an amused brow. Of course Jad was checking her out.

"You're hopeless." Azure mumbled, shaking his head while hiding a smile.

"Aww, come on Pasty! You were totally looking too!"

Azure misstepped and almost fell over, barely catching himself. "What?" He asked in surprise. "I was not! Not the way I know _you're_ thinking of." He said defensively, glaring at his friend.

Rember's eyes grew wide as she gasped. " .God." She stated dramatically as she ran up and clutched Jad's arm. "I don't believe it. Azure has a thing for the new teacher. COULD IT BE TRUE?!" The fox girl shouted in mock bewilderment to her fedora wearing teammate, her trademark playful smile in full effect.

"I KNOW! I thought him unsalvageable in the ways of love! It was such a tragedy!" Jad answered, playing along as they overacted the matter. "But as we now discovered, there's hope for him yet! We just need to keep the small flame alive!" The tall boy then pointed to his team leader. "Quick, Azure! We must fly!" He said with passion.

As Azure listened to his teammates, the veins in his head kept growing more visible. "I've already told you..." the boy said in an extremely controlled voice, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's not why I was looking. Now can you _please _stop?" the boy insisted earnestly.

Jad and Rember kept laughing to themselves, and the team resumed walking. The two troublemakers kept it going behind their leader's back as well.

Suddenly, Gayle froze on the spot. Her eyes abruptly filled with fear, but quickly hid it when her team noticed she stopped.

"I, uh, I just remembered I left something back at the classroom! I-I'll be right back!"

"Yeah? We'll come with you if you want." Jad invited. To his surprise however, she shot down the offer.

"N-no, it's fine. Really, I won't even take a minute." The faunus assured. She then hastily moved back the way they came. "Go on without me! I'll see you next class!" She shouted over her shoulder.

The rest of KRME were left scratching their heads.

"O...kay? I guess...we'll keep moving?" Jad inquired to his teammates, unsure of what else to do.

Azure's eyes narrowed as a small frown slipped from his lips. He did a quick look around him, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"...Yeah." Was all he said, and moved on.

Rember and Jad followed after their leader, keeping any thoughts of Gayle's sudden bail to themselves.

* * *

Ozpin sat back in his desk as he took a small sip of the drink in his mug. The headmaster was reviewing the current state of affairs in the world. Aside from the obscene amount of Dust robberies that were happening in Vale, everything else seemed fine. They were in a time of peace after all, something all the kingdoms had worked hard for.

Suddenly, the man noticed a notification light on his desk. Someone was asking permission to come into his office, and Ozpin smiled to himself.

Pressing a button, the headmaster said "Come in." into a small speaker. As the doors parted, Ozpin's smile grew.

It was Asha. She promptly exhaled a strained sigh, pulling out a hair clip to let her long purple and grey hair fall. The young woman promptly walked over to Ozpin's desk, the headmaster putting his hands together.

"So how'd it go?" He asked.

"Ughhh..." Asha groaned, rolling her eyes. "They weren't...terrible. Had to deal with a few boys who were too consumed by their hormones."

Ozpin chuckled softly. "What did they do?"

"What else? Tried to hit on me."

"Those poor boys..." Ozpin mused, "You kept your temper, right?"

Asha scoffed. " Of course. What do you take me for?" She asked flatly.

Ozpin raised a bemused eyebrow, keeping his eyes trained on the woman. After a moment, Asha rolled her eyes again.

"Alright, alright. I did lose it a little during that first class." She admitted, " But I needed to show who was in charge. Doesn't matter if some of them are just a few years younger than me."

"I see." The Headmaster nodded. "Well, do try to keep your temper. Teachers are not supposed to lash out at the students after all." Ozpin stated, taking a sip from his mug.

Asha bobbed her head in mild annoyance. "Yes, I know." She replied. "Hopefully, Port will be back soon, and I can get out of here."

"He'll be back." Ozpin assured. The man then leaned forward in his desk. "But in the meantime, I have a request..."

Asha raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and the headmaster's demeanor focused.

"I'd like you to keep an eye on someone for me..."

* * *

The sun was low on the horizon, still spilling its parting rays through KRME's window. Three figures lay sprawled across various articles of furniture, silently engaged in miscellaneous tasks.

Rember was the first to break the silence. She popped her head up from where it was previously buried in a book, ears swiveling as she did a quick look around the room.

"Yo Azure," she called, tossing a nearby pillow at her napping partner, "have you seen lil' lizard?"

KRME's leader raised his head, groggy from being woken so abruptly. He peered around their dorm through eyes heavy with sleep. A moment later he sat up quickly with an expression of concern.

"No. She's been up in her nest so much that I hardly ever see her." he said, turning his gaze back to where Rember sat with brow furrowed in concern.

His mouth turned down into a small frown. His sense of concern for their youngest team member had been growing by the day as she continued to become more and more withdrawn. It was clear that something was bothering her (even when she acted semi-normal), and Azure was starting to doubt his initial belief that Gayle would come to her teammates if something was wrong. It had been nearly two weeks, and none of them had succeeded in prying anything from the little faunus.

Three minutes later the two teammates rallied their third member, hardly sparing a moment to explain their concern before Jad was even more fired up and ready to go than either of them. Five minutes saw them out the door. At ten minutes, they were scattered across campus, wandering every corridor in search of their wayward teammate. At thirty, they unanimously decided that their progress was much too slow together.

Nearly an hour after they had departed their room, KRME was scattered across campus. Rember took an outdoors route, roving the well-worn paths and curated gardens of Beacon Academy. Jad continued to scour the corridors and classrooms, to little success. Azure chose the path less traveled, traversing roof tiles and treetops to search from above.

Tensions rose each moment Gayle remained unfound. Azure did his best to be calm, and pushed forward with a drive and concentration powered by his swelling concern. He reached a particular peak on the school's rooftop where he had a relatively clear view of the entire school, and here he stopped. The boy then closed his eyes, and deeply concentrated. A numbing melancholy began to creep through his thoughts as he surveyed the colours sprawled before him, but he dismissed the nagging despair. So intent was he on his survey of the school, searching for any hint of the missing faunus girl, it took a moment for him to recognize the detached sense of the emotion as emanating from someone else.

A sharp hue of sorrow drew his attention next, and he quickly realized that he was not alone on the rooftop. Cautiously, he crept to the edge and peered over to a ledge below.

Instantly, he was greeted by a familiar red braid and twitching green tail, and felt relieved.

_Found you... _

"You know..." Azure spoke up from his cover, grinning. "It's dangerous to be up here alone."

Gayle started upon hearing the unexpected voice, tail thrashing as she wildly looked behind her.

"Huh!? A-Azure? How...w-why are you...?" She stammered in a whirlwind of words, not finishing her statements.

The boy in white chuckled to himself. "When people want to be alone, they go to high places. Seriously, you're not the only one who does it."

Gayle sighed and turned her gaze outward to the landscape displayed below them. "...I always used to climb trees and stuff w-with my friend. Back home."

Azure scaled down the structure to perch next to his teammate. He tried to study her emotions but found he couldn't easily decipher her turmoil; the only clear sentiments were her own confusion and that lingering melancholy. Furrowing his brow, he struggled to determine what to do to ease the girl's troubled mind. Unfortunately, she didn't seem eager to divulge her troubles, so he was left guessing.

"You missing home?" he asked softly. It was the only idea he had that sounded believable.

"Nah, I'm just...tired, I guess," she shrugged, giving him a small smile that only deepened the weight in her eyes.

They were silent for another moment as Azure pondered how best to respond. He knew she didn't mean tired physically (Gayle was much too health-conscious to allow herself to go without proper sleep), but he knew not to pry too far and risk pushing her farther away.

"...Alright. Then can you come back to the dorm and get some sleep?" Azure suggested in what he hoped was an encouraging way, "You have been studying pretty hard recently." He then got up and stretched out a hand, Gayle eyeing the gesture.

"...yeah, okay."

Gayle gave the grounds one last sweeping glance as she considered, before turning away and clasping Azure's hand with her own, being pulled to her feet, and followed her leader down the structure.


	10. Condemnation Confrontation

"Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm….hmm, hmm, hmmmmm~" Sonara hummed, happily skipping in front Rosalie as the two of them advanced through the halls. The brunette moved with vigorous purpose, so much that her friend had to try and keep up with her.

A few minutes earlier, Sonara had felt the urge to check out the selection of books at the school library. Initially she had asked Kyra to join her because of all the novels the girl read in her free time, but the invitation had been declined. So, as per usual, her partner and best friend agreed to go on her little adventure.

"Hey, ya think they have the story with the white rabbit and the disappearing kitty?" Sonara asked hopefully, skipping backwards to look at Rosalie.

The rose haired girl shrugged, smiling warmly. "Dunno. Guess we'll have to find out, won't we?" she ventured in a light tone.

"Mmm, I guess," Sonara replied, turning forward again.

The pair soon arrived at the library entrance. Sonara was positively bursting with anticipation, her feet fidgeting sporadically. She hadn't visited this part of the school much, and it felt really exciting! Anything new was always fun to explore. At least to her it was.

Just as Sonara reached for the brazen handle of the door, it abruptly swung outwards, almost smacking into the short-statured Huntress-in-training. She barely managed to jump out of the way without getting hurt. On the other side, four boys walked out of the library laughing and bragging about something the two girls couldn't quite make out. Sonara felt herself growling in anger at their seemingly obliviousness at what they almost did.

"Wh-Hey! Watch it!" she shouted heatedly, snapping at the four boys.

The four members stopped, looking at the small girl with blank stares. The tallest one, a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes, scoffed at the hostility he received.

"What?" he asked, annoyed.

"What d'ya mean 'what'?! You almost whacked me with the door, you big jerk!"

"Tch, did not. You just got in the way, short stack."

"What?! Why I…" Sonara growled furiously as she moved towards the boy, only to be stopped as Rosalie put out her arm.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," her pink haired partner stated, a look of calm sternness etched onto her face. "Just be more mindful of what you're doing."

All the boys looked at the two of them as if they were crazy, and their leader scoffed again in annoyance.

"Pfft, whatever," he mumbled. The tall boy then motioned for the other three to follow. "C'mon, let's get out of here. See ya later, ya broads."

"BROADS?! Grrr, that's it!"

"Don't bother… " Rosalie stated, halting her partner as she watched the four boys strut away. "They aren't worth it."

Hot steam shooting from her ears, Sonara glared daggers into the backs of the four young men, sticking her tounge out in defiance. She then rustled her muted brown hair around before entering the library, any lingering anger melting away when she saw the inside.

"Woooooooooooow….." the brunette breathed in awe, her sapphire eyes sparkling. It was ginormous! Rows upon rows of shelves chocked full of books, tables with holographic computers, and an entire second floor filled with wonders she couldn't even fathom! It was something truly spectacular!

Rosalie softly giggled at seeing her partner's amazement. "Shall we go check it out?" she asked, a light smile gracing her face.

With an affirmative nod from her partner, the duo went their way through the forest of literature. In a matter of minutes, they managed to locate many stories they were familiar with, as well as a plethora of new works. After an hour, the girls decided to take a break, delving straight into the worlds of fantasy and fiction they had found. Sonara instantly tore through the story she and Rosalie grew up on; the tale about a little girl who stumbles into an upside down world of whimsical chaos. As for Rosalie, she'd found a novel about the plight of twin princes who had conflicting ideals on how to rule, apparently filled with excitement, drama, and adventure.

The late afternoon suddenly turned to evening before either of the girls decided to stop, the lights in the library illuminating inside instead of the sun. Softly closing the musty book she was reading, Sonara stretched as far as she could go, her joints popping. It was definitely getting late, and Val n' Kyra were probably making something for dinner by now…

Rosalie mimed her partner, relieving the tension in her body as she finished reading. "Wanna head back now?" she asked.

Sonara nodded firmly. "Yep," the brunette responded, getting to her feet and grabbing the books she checked out. "Imma do one more look, though."

Nodding, Rosalie followed after Sonara as she scanned the shelves one final time. The young girl lightly zipped around the aisles, following a path she'd made after the first few times she browsed. But as she made a certain turn, something, or rather some**one,** abruptly caught her eye.

"Huh?" she asked herself, recognizing the person instantly.

Sitting at one of the tables alone, piles of books in front of them, was Gayle. The faunus looked spaced out, and fumbled with a intricate paper bird in her hands.

"Gayle?"

Upon hearing her name, the girl snapped out of her daze with a jolt. She looked around in alarm, only to relax after realizing who had called her.

"O-oh, um, hi," she greeted, straightening her uniform as Sonara and Rosalie walked up to her.

"Hey!" Sonara responded, jubilantly smiling. She then noticed the paper bird, and drew in closer to observe it. "Woooooooah…. That looks awesome!" she commented, stars in her eyes. "Did you make that?!"

"Y-yeah," Gayle responded, awkwardly stumbling for words, "I, uh, I did."

"That's. So. Cool~! Can you teach me how to do that?!"

Gayle perked up at her eagerness. "Oh, sure! Honestly, it's a lot easier than it looks."

"Awright!" Sonara cheered, giggling happily. Just as she was about to join the faunus, she then remembered what she was doing previous. It also helped when she noticed her partner behind her, waiting.

"Oooh, but maybe not right now. We need to head back," she said with a hint of disappointment, only to hop back into her normal, energetic tone, "but you'll definitely teach me later, right?!"

Gayle scooted her chair back, as Sonara was literally staring her in the face, and nodded. "Of course. I'll show you whenever you'd like," she replied with a friendly smile.

"Awesome! Thanks, friend!"

"You're wel-hguuurrrk!" Gayle was suddenly captured in a vice-like hug by Sonara, catching her completely by surprise.

"Can't…breathe…" the faunus whispered, running out of air.

"Alright, let her go," Rosalie stated calmly, and Sonara released on command. After catching her breath, Gayle let a faint chuckle escape, grateful to be free.

"So why are you all by yourself?" Rosalie asked the faunus girl.

"Huh? No, I'm not."

"Then where is everyone else?"

"They were just…" Gayle trailed off as she noticed the items around her table, and that they were all hers. "Oh...they must've left while I was still studying... " she mumbled absently.

Rosalie raised an inquisitive brow. "Gayle...how long have you been studying here?"

"Ummmm...since school ended, I think?"

"And...how long do you think you've been in here?"

"Uhhhmmmm….a few hours?"

"A _**few?**_" Sonara suddenly interjected, "it's nighttime!"

"Wha-?!" Gayle exclaimed, surprise written all over her. The faunus scrambled to look out a window, deflating when seeing the last few golden rays of light disappear over the horizon. She let out a sigh, slumping back into her chair and organizing her notes.

Sonara and Rosalie exchanged a glance.

"Hey… are you okay?" the shorter of the two asked, at the quietest volume she'd been the entire encounter.

Gayle smiled faintly, "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied quickly, "I just really lost track of the clock. It's not the first time, heh heh…"

Another shared glance, this time followed by a moment of silence.

"Well, okay!" Sonara spoke up, smiling cheerily, "if that's all, then we won't worry." She looked up at her partner. "We going now?" she asked.

Rosalie nodded, but her eyes were on Gayle. She studied the young faunus, and couldn't fight her growing hunch that there was more to this than what was presented. After all, she and everyone else on the team had begun to notice how unusual Gayle had been conducting herself recently. Regardless, Rosalie decided to follow her partner's example and play it off like she didn't notice. If Gayle wanted to talk about it, she'd probably go to her team instead of them.

"Yes, we should," Rosalie responded to her partner, also putting on a friendly face. "It was nice to spend a little time with you, Gayle. You going back soon?"

Gayle nodded.

"In that case, how about we lend you a hand with those books? Seems a little much for just one person. Not to mention all of your spectacular little paper creations."

"Huh? Oh no, no, no. I can take care of it," the faunus hastily replied. "Really, I got it."

"Aww, don't be silly!" Sonara stated, "We'd love to help! Friends help each other no matter what the problem!"

Before Gayle could protest further, Sonara stacked a good three-quarters of all of the faunus' books and hoisted them off the table, grinning happily as she walked to the exit. Rosalie felt her own smile widening and gathered all the remaining notes, leaving Gayle to carry her few paper creations. They followed after Sonara, Gayle's head bowed with fatigue.

"You know…" Rosalie told the faunus as she saw the girl lagging behind her. "If you want to talk about anything, Sonara and I are always be willing to listen. I bet the same goes for Valerie, and even Kyra. We've got your back," she said, smiling to hopefully lighten the girl's spirit.

Lifting her head, Gayle responded mildly, "Yeah, sure. Thanks…" before returning her gaze to the ground.

* * *

"Aaaand that's the last of it."

With Sonara finishing her story, Azure, Rember, Jad, as well as Valerie and Kyra sat at the table in silence.

"Mmmm..." the fox girl grimaced, ears slightly slanted down.

"That's why she showed up with you guys last night…" Jad mumbled.

"So I guess everyone knows for certain something's up, huh?" Valerie asked aloud, glancing across to the empty gap in KRME's row. Gayle was absent for lunch. Again. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find her at all outside of class, and everyone was worried about the young girl.

The three present members of KRME all nodded. They all knew for a while Gayle was troubled by something. Yet still she wouldn't open up, even after Jad and Azure (as well as Sonara and Rosalie) had their own chances to find out the problem. So now they were left with their own ideas on what was keeping her tongue tied.

"We've tried to get her talking," Jad answered, disappointed, "But it's been no dice for all of us."

"...Maybe she wants to deal with her problem alone." Kyra spoke up, tone apathetic. " Deducing from what you've said, she probably doesn't feel that she needs help. From what you've told us about her, she's been homeschooled, had private tutors, and is rather socially awkward. Doesn't seem like the kind of person that relies on others. Or am I wrong?" She finished, posing the cold question to a still audience.

At the moment, no one disagreed with Kyra's logic. But as the drawn out silence continued, Rember's ears perked up, and she looked to Sonara inquisitively.

"Question…" she asked, "Who were those four people you mentioned?"

"Hmm?" The short brunette perked up. "Oh! Um…" She looked around the room in fast sweeps, trying to locate the four boys from her story. "They're...right…there!" She exclaimed, pointing across the hall.

Everyone at the table glanced over to where Sonara pointed.

"Yes. That's them." Rosalie confirmed upon observing. It was the exact same four young men from before.

"Anyone know who they are?" Valerie asked.

"Oh, I do." Rember answered with a hint of hostility, fox ears lying flat. "That's team CRDL."

"The newest batch o' sons of bitches?" Jad piped up in response to his teammate's darkened look.

Rember merely hardened her gaze, not responding verbally. Across the room, the four members of CRDL hadn't seem to notice the seven stares directed at them. Azure was privately sizing them up, trying to get a good read on them. From what he could see, they were...mostly arrogant. The four boys were like a stereotypical pack of belittling jocks, always holding their power over any of the other students. Not to mention they were all extremely prejudiced, especially towards faunus. Now that he thought about it, Azure did recall them picking on numerous different faunus students since the beginning of the year. And the more he thought about it, the more his neutral expression began to crack with hints of disdain. He never liked those kinds of people, and when he checked on how the others were looking, neither did they.

"Hrmmm…" Sonara grimaced, "I really don't like them."

"For once, I agree with you." Kyra mumbled, to which her smaller teammate stuck her tongue out at her. Suddenly, CRDL left their seats, swaggering off to who knows where. As they left, Rember picked up bits of their conversation, fox ears twitching every which way. Azure caught the sight, and looked to his partner with questioning eyes.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I...I don't know." The fox girl answered, "It was hard to hear 'cause of all the noise...but…" Rember trailed off, but quickly finished her statement, "I think someone's in trouble."

Azure immediately honed in on how uneasy she sounded. Valerie, Kyra, and Rosalie caught the fox's foreboding words too, but Sonara and Jad missed it, the tall boy too occupied with lunch while he tried to figure out what was happening with his partner, and the young girl still giving the stink eye to CRDL as they left.

"You don't think...they're going after Gayle, do you?" Rosalie whispered worriedly.

"...Say that again."

Azure and Rember flinched upon hearing a deadpan voice beside them, cautiously glancing sideways at Jad. The tall young man apparently was paying attention and stopped eating, a literal dark energy exuding off of the boy. AMBR also were taken aback by the sight, and Rosalie cautiously spoke again.

"I...I said you don't think it's Gayle-"

"Yeah, I got it." Jad replied, cutting the girl off. Without another word, the redhead got out of his seat and made his way out of the dining hall, the black energy growing in size as he left.

Everyone still seated were frozen for a good moment as they watched Jad depart.

"...Rem?" Azure posed, looking at his partner.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" the fox girl answered, springing after Jad. Azure followed close behind, leaving his incomplete lunch behind. They also left a really concerned and confused team AMBR, unsure of just what they should do next.

* * *

"Jad, just hang on a sec." Azure urged as he and Rember blocked their teammate's path. They finally caught up to him after he got his head start. The tall young man halted, eyeing them both.

"What?" The redhead asked in a deadpan voice, an unsettlingly neutral look on his face.

"Look, just calm down." Azure insisted, holding firm. While he understood Jad's anger, they needed to handle this tactfully. His friend's 'Break things first, ask questions later' way of thinking would only get him (and probably everyone else on the team) in trouble.

"I am."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"...I doubt that...Look, before you go off and destroy everything, have you at least thought about a different angle to go about this."

"I have."

"How hard?"

"Very."

Azure paused. "So...?" He asked.

"I got a plan, Pasty." Jad assured.

Azure and Rember shared an incredulous glance.

"You're not stopping, are you?" Rember asked.

"Obviously."

"And if we let you go, what are you going to do?"

Jad took a moment to think, his teammate's still blocking him. "Oh, ya know… poke em." he answered, poking Azure to exemplify. The albino felt his face scrunch up in doubt. Whatever Jad wanted to do, it most likely involved killing CRDL. Or at the very least, life scarring beat-downs. No matter what Azure thought of, he couldn't calm down Jad, and the young man sighed in defeat.

"Is there anyway we can get Gayle and NOT have bloodshed today?" He asked his tall friend.

Jad's eyes focused on the hall ahead of the three of them, the black energy growing darker.

"Get to them before I do…"

* * *

Gayle sighed to herself as she slowly walked the school halls alone. The weight in her arms seemed heavier than usual today, which was odd as she was only carrying the usual amount of notes. She did feel a bit tired, but that wasn't going to stop her today. Soon as the food she had earlier kicked in, she'd be feeling better...right?

Subconsciously, the young faunus started to let her mind wander. The others were probably having their own lunches right now, likely talking about what's been happening with her. Gayle knew they were all wanting to know why she had been so...introverted by now. But everything was fine. If she was patient enough, the situation would solve itself. It always did, so no need to get them into her own problem.

Without warning, Gayle felt a force push her from behind. The girl lost her balance and fell to the cold floor, dropping her books everywhere.

_Ow... _Gayle thought to herself, rubbing the pain in her right arm away. She looked up to see who pulled had pulled the unprovoked move, and she felt her stomach churn.

It was the four boys who had been hounding her since, well, for a while.

"Hey, bookworm," The tallest one said, smiling smugly. "How's it going?"

Without a word, Gayle went about collecting her things. Her silence didn't sway her confronters, the leader addressing the faunus again.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

It wasn't till being pushed backwards that Gayle responded.

"I heard you." She mumbled, looking in any direction other than at her aggressors.

The lead boy huffed in satisfaction, "Good. Then I also bet you remember hearing about those notes from Oobleck me and my team needed for tomorrow. You wrote a copy for us, right?"

"What? No. You should have written your-"

Gayle was suddenly lifted off the ground and forcibly placed against a wall. The move took her by surprise, her breath rushing out of her when making contact with the stone wall.

"No talking back." He growled. "You do what I say, and life goes on. But if you refuse, or you blab about this to anyone...You'll get yours, plus interest."

Gayle said nothing. She tried squirming free, but physical prowess was never her forte.

"Heh, nice try." He snickered. The other members went through the spilled contents of the faunus' belongings and found what they were looking for, tucking the notes away. "Thanks. Now, ah, how 'bout you make a copy for us next period? The boys and I have a busy schedule." The boy continued.

The small faunus felt her face scrunching into a frown. "Excuse me?! No way!" Gayle retorted, but stopped as the grip holding her up tightened, the girl shifting around to loosen it. After a moment The boy let Gayle go, the faunus slumping back down. She did her best to control the shaking in her body, trying not to appear frightened. She was outnumbered, outmuscled, out...well, just about everything by herself. This wasn't the first time she was picked on...but darn it, why couldn't she still not do anything!

"Cardin, We got what we need. Let's go before-"

"**HEY! ASSFACES!"**

Cardin, his teammates, and Gayle all jumped at hearing an enraged voice cutting off the tall young man. Looking around the quartet of boys, the short girl felt her heart skip a beat, surges of happiness engulfing her.

_No...No way...! _Gayle thought to herself in disbelief.

Azure, Rember, and Jad had come looking for her. All three of them carried an air of anger, with Azure's the most subdued, and Jad's the most visible, a black energy surrounding him whilst sucking away the light in and around the area.

"**SOME RATS GONNA DIE TONIGHT!" **Jad roared, wisps of the black energy breaking off before dissipating.

One of the member's of CRDL backed away in fear, and Cardin raised an eyebrow.

"And what's your deal?" He asked, acting tough.

"Excuse me? That's our friend." Rember hissed, getting into an offensive stance. "And _nobody _bullies our friends."

"Is that what you think this is? You shouldn't be so quick to judge. But I should've expected you faunus freaks to stand up for each other."

Rember hissed, the temperature in the room rising.

"Oh, we're done here…" Jad growled darkly, cracking his knuckles.

"Wait." Azure commanded, walking calmly in front of Jad to face off against Cardin. "...Let her go." he ordered the tall human boy, eyeing him sternly.

"What?"

"Let. Her. Go." the albino repeated slowly. "I don't care what you have to say. You'll let her go, and you _will _leave her alone."

Cardin ground his teeth together, refusing to crack under Azure's cold stare. Without another word, Azure walked past the bully, helped Gayle to her feet, and led her over to Rember and Jad.

Cardin scoffed again. "Are you kidding me? You're protecting her? Why would you or the one wearing a hat even bother defending someone like her? They're animals!"

Azure stopped in his tracks. It was then CRDL noticed a change in atmosphere. A darker, more foreboding feeling surrounded the white haired boy. It sent chills down their spines, and the latter three boys warily moved away.

"Jad..." Azure spoke up, not moving. The tall redhead looked over to his friend, barely containing his urge to maim the people responsible for hurting his partner. "Poke 'em." Azure finished, and Jad's eyes lit up.

Team CRDL were hit with confusion. Just what did he mean by-?

Suddenly, a miniature explosion sent the four boys into the far wall, the stone cracking whilst also leaving impact craters the four of them rested in. The black energy Jad had been collecting as his rage builded was being released, swirling around him wildly as he laughed maniacally.

"**MUAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TIME FOR THE RATS TO DIE!"** The tall redhead yelled with zeal, the surrounding light seemingly being sucked into the blackness around him. He began sprinting towards CRDL, a crazed look in his eye. As the four young men recovered from getting blasted into solid rock, Jad jumped as high as he could into the air. With no warning the young man slammed back down into the ground as close as he could to his victims, and the entire school shook with an ear shattering explosion. The rest of KRME shielded themselves as best they could.

It took a minute, but the ringing inside everyone's ears eventually stopped , and the lingering dust settled. Cautiously, Gayle ventured a peek at the outcome of her partner's outburst. She felt her entire self be taken with shock. A large section of wall was demolished, with at least two more farther down also sporting a wide hole. So that's what her partner was capable of...

Stretching his arms, Jad let out an _extremely _satisfied sigh. Proud at his handiwork, he turned back to look at his team.

"Thanks, Pasty!" he chimed happily.

Azure hummed whilst closing his eyes. "Well, he finally pissed me off. I don't care anymore what Goodwitch will say." he explained.

Jad grinned, and picked up his partner off the ground. "So...how about you start letting us back you up a little bit more, huh? I'm always ready to break something or someone if you need it, Pipsqueak!" He said merrily.

"Damn straight!" Rember added, handing the lizard girl her belongings that had been strewn. "You're our friend and a part of the team, Gayle. Don't ever think you can't come to us for anything."

Gayle looked at her teammates. Azure chipped in a simple nod and a smile, and the combined boosts perked the lizard faunus right up.

"Okay." she replied, smiling. "Thanks, you guys."

"You betcha!" Jad beamed. The young man then turned on his heel, adjusting his hat whilst strutting towards the administrative offices. "Now let's go find Goodwitch! Oh, she's gonna be so proud of us!"

"By the way, you meathead, make sure to leave enough for us to get a hit in next time! I was so wanting to land one across Cardin's stupid jaw!" Rember huffed, following behind. Azure and Gayle were right behind them, listening to the continued banter of their partners. The young leader slid a glance in Gayle's direction, catching a small grin on her face.

"What's up?" he asked calmly.

The young faunus softly shook her head. 'Nothing." She replied plainly, and Azure let her be. Suddenly, Gayle remembered an extremely important something, stopping dead in her tracks. The small girl then ran as fast as he could in the direction of Jad's destruction.

"Hey!" Jad hollered when noticing Gayle was again running off on her own, "Where the heck are you going now?!"

"My notes!" Gayle shouted over her shoulder, "They still have them!"


	11. Muddy Waters

"Rosy! Have you seen my other shoe?" Sonara asked her partner while messing with her uniform's collar. Team AMBR had just got out of Glynda's class and were in the armory, changing back into their school uniforms. The four girls were worked to the bone during class (as the professor always had done in her classroom) and were about to go to lunch break. However, the youngest of the team had misplaced her left shoe, keeping the rest of them.

"Seriously? You lost it? *sigh*...How on earth did you make it into this school…" Kyra muttered to herself, quiet enough so no one else could hear. It could've been the fact that she was hungry at that moment, but that small brunette had always given her a serious headache since the day they met, which was only a small handful of months ago.

"Did you check your locker again?" Rosalie asked calmly, patient with her friend.

"Uh-huh! But I can't find it!" Sonara pouted. The energetic girl did another quick sweep of her personal container, the clanking and rattling of various other things inside shifting about. After a minute or so, Sonara retracted back, shrugging in defeat.

"Hold on, lemme see..." Rosalie responded, her motherly tone strong. It wasn't long before the girl with the braid reappeared from her partner's locker, a single black shoe in one hand and a warm smile gracing her face.

"This it?" She inquired, a playful undertone in her soft voice.

Eyes wide and grin blinding, Sonara merrily retrieved her lost footwear and shoved it onto her left foot, catching her partner in one of her signature bear hugs afterwards. "Yes! That's it! Oh, you're amazing Rosy! And I'm soooo sorry I took so long!" The girl then apologized (or rather, 'quietly shouted') to her teammates.

"It's no problem, Sonara." Valerie dismissed happily. While she loved her team all equally, Sonara could always perk someone up with her overabundance of untamed energy. Something that she had really come to like about the short statured girl.

"Yeah, sure." Kyra grumbled, brushing off the apology. "Can we go now? I need food." She stated flatly, her fatigue making her really impatient.

Nodding to her partner, Valerie lead her team in the direction of the mess hall, their smallest and youngest member humming contently to herself. The four girls hurried through the expansive corridors of the academy, the occasional growling from a empty stomach sounding off every so often. Whilst speed walking, Sonara had gone off on telling one of the many 'grand' adventures that her and Rosalie had gone through when they were little, even if the details were a bit...exaggerated. Rosalie, as usual, would contently listen to the 'Sonara version' of the story, while Kyra couldn't bear to hear another one of these grating works of hyperactive fiction. Valerie, to no one's surprise, was wrapped in one of her many daydreams, her fantasies all concerning a certain spiky haired boy.

"Ehehe...Ehehehehehe..."

"Hey, who-oh..." Kyra began to ask, but soon stopped. She had thought she heard someone chuckling to themselves, but was predictably unsurprised when she saw her partner completely zoned out, the girl's red eyes glassed over while she wore a droopy smile. Grabbing the back of her partner's shirt, Kyra held their team leader in place so she would stop her mindless shuffle forward.

"Uh...Val?" Kyra asked. No reply was made from the absent minded human, 'cept for what appeared to be drool escaping her mouth. "Earth to Valerie! Anyone home?!" Kyra shouted, getting right into her partner's ear.

"B-Bwah?!" Valerie jumped, snapping back to reality. "What is it?! What's wrong?" The bluish-silver haired girl asked in alarm, reflexively taking a defensive stance like in a kung fu movie.

"Uhh...nothing." Kyra stated flatly, raising an eyebrow. "Unless you think that arriving at the cafeteria is bad..." She said sarcastically, pointing weakly to the expansive room in front of them.

Her cheeks tinting pink, Valerie scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Oh...Heh heh." She replied, grinning sheepishly. Clearing her throat, she led her team through the maze of students, each of them grabbing their dishes of choice as they went through.

"So are we going to sit with Azure's group again, Val-Val? I wanna talk with the fox lady and hat man!" Sonara asked. Since they arrived at this school, it was noticed that most teams had one or two other teams that they hung out with, with few individual members of others joining them occasionally. This was true with RWBY and JNPR, KRME and AMBR, and so on.

"Why wouldn't we?" Kyra bluntly asked her upbeat teammate. "They're some of the only people we know at this school."

Interjecting, Valerie answered, "Sure thing! It's nice to have the company." She said, spotting team KRME by themselves at a table.

"Yay!" Sonara cheered, and the four girls moved on. Weaving their way through, AMBR placed their trays at KRME's table, taking the bench at the opposing side of the co-ed team.

"Hiya, guys!" Sonara beamed to KRME as she took her seat, placing herself between Rosalie and Kyra. "Howya doin?"

Rember was the first to answer. "We're doing good!" She said, smiling. "Just got out of Professor Peach's class. You?"

"Came from Goodwitch's." Rosalie replied, finishing a sip of her orange juice. "Oh! She said that there's going to be a big tournament against all the schools at the end of the year during the Vytal Festival. Have you heard about that yet?" She inquired.

All four of team KRME nodded, Jad chomping down a strip of bacon. "Yep!" The boy in the fedora stated, swallowing his mouthful. "We were told yesterday. But for now, time to rejoice that spring break is almost upon us!"

"We'll start training when it comes closer." Azure spoke up. "But for now, it's not a big deal." He added nonchalantly.

"That makes sense. Oh, by the way Azure..." Valerie began, looking at the green eyed boy. "I was wondering, are you free later?" She asked, inwardly crossing her fingers. Hopefully, this time he'd say yes...

To the girl's dismay, Azure shook his head.

"Sorry," he replied, "I'm busy."

"Oh..." Valerie said, her heart sinking a bit. She never seemed to catch a break with him. "What are you doing?" She asked, trying to sound upbeat to hide her disappointment.

Azure paused for a moment, almost as if he were choosing his words. "Gayle and I have plans for after school." He responded, looking over to his youngest teammate. "Something we decided on recently after we got out of detention after Jad sent CRDL through a few walls." He finished, his gaze flicking over to his partner for a moment before turning back to Valerie. Beside him, Rember tried to hide a smirk while Gayle was positively glowing with excitement.

"Oh...okay." Valerie said, nodding whilst returning to her food. It wasn't really any of her business anyway. After that, all forms of talking died down, everyone in favor of eating. Eventually, the bell that signaled the end of the break rang, all the students cleaning up.

With a spring in her step and a rekindled fire in her belly, Sonara shot into action. "Awright! Imma go on ahead, okay Rosy? See you in class!" She exclaimed to her partner energetically, speeding off on her own and leaving the rest of her friends in the dust.

Back in the mess hall, Kyra sighed while applying pressure to one of her temples. "Honestly, Rosalie..." she addressed to the pink haired girl. "I have no idea how you can deal with that girl the way you do. Everything she does eventually gives me a headache."

"Hee hee. Yes, her overabundance of enthusiasm can do that to people." Rosalie giggled, smiling warmly. "But it's never bothered me. After all, we did grow up together." She reminded in a playful tone.

_Fair point._ Kyra admitted. _Still..._ she continued in her head, _I don't think I can hold out for much longer if she can't tone it down a few notches..._

Gathering their respective food trays, the rest of AMBR and KRME said their goodbyes and parted ways, much to Valerie's chagrin, as the young teenager wanted to spend more time with her crush.

* * *

"Whew...another day finished..." Valerie exhaled as she and her team entered their dorm. The afternoon half of school had been filled to the brim of lectures. Half of them from the bombastic Professor Port, whilst the other half from the ever exuberant Dr. Oobleck. Valerie had made a habit of making sure to add the 'Dr.' suffix whenever speaking to the teacher, as he seemed quite adamant to be addressed as such.

"Yeah, yippee..." Kyra grumbled, sarcasm potent. "Can't wait to do it aaaall over again tomorrow."

"Aww muffin," Valerie quipped, grinning lopsidedly. "Do you need a hug? I bet Sonara would be more than willing to make you feel better."

"Pass." The girl with white hair declined, tearing off her uniform to get into something she was more comfortable in. "I...really don't need her touching me."

Smile widening, Valerie dropped her teasing and followed her partner's example. In minutes, the four girls were in very basic casual wear, each individual now passing the evening in their own way. Rosalie took the liberty of unbraiding her hair, running a hairbrush to her rose colored locks to straighten them out. Sonara was coloring in a picture book, not bothering to follow any sense of color scheming. Kyra sat on the side of her bunk, flipping through the pages of one of her favorite novels. And Valerie, as per the usual when she had time, was sprawled across her bedsheets, her head flowing with sugary thoughts.

"Excuse me, Kyra," Rosalie suddenly spoke up, looking over to her teammate. "But I have a question that's been gnawing at me."

Kyra folded a small crease in a page of her book before putting it down. "What?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Well, I have a weird feeling that I've heard your name somewhere before. More specifically, the 'Miste' part.

"So?"

"Well, I don't want to assume anything, but are you perchance related to Titania Miste?" Rosalie asked delicately, an air of curiosity around her.

Hearing that name seized everyone's attention. Valerie and Sonara dropped their activities and gazed intensely at the M of AMBR, while Kyra's bright green eyes flickered with emotion for a split second before returning to their original, uninterested look.

"Oh wow Kyra! Are you really from that Miste family?" Valerie asked, filled with awe. She grew up on the tales of the famed Huntress, and was one of her favorite heroes when she was a little girl. So if Kyra was a part of that family...that would be amazing beyond words to her!

"...So what if I am?" Kyra replied curtly, seeming not to care.

"Well I don't know about you, but I would be honored!" The blueish-silver haired girl exclaimed, gushing over the possibility. "To be related to the prodigy that was Titania Miste! I mean, she was amazing!"

"Is it true?" Sonara inquired seriously, closing in on her older teammate as close as she could. Kyra slowly moved away, but couldn't avoid the questioning eyes that were her team. Especially in Sonara's case.

Breathing out a long sigh, Kyra ran a hand through her hair before letting it flop back down onto her head. "...We weren't only just related." She replied, sounding like she was reciting something that was incredibly boring. "She was my mother."

"...WHAAAAAAAAT?!"

Kyra winced at the volume of screams from her teammates. "You heard me. Also, oww." The albino mumbled, returning to her book.

"Bu-bubu-bu-but that means..." Valerie stuttered, completely shocked. "One of the greatest Huntresses of our time is your MOM!" She shouted, her hair drills bouncing around. "How could you not tell us, Kyra?!"

Kyra wasn't fazed. "I don't see how telling you that is of any benefit. In all honesty, I'd rather avoid any attention if is was because of her." The girl said plainly, not looking at the others.

Valerie and the others couldn't believe it. How could Kyra be so...cold about this? It was as if she didn't care.

"But why?" Sonara asked, utterly confused with how Kyra was acting. "Don't you care about your momma?"

"*sigh* No, I don't. And quite frankly, she didn't care about me either." the young girl said, annoyance written all over her body language. "And please don't say 'momma'. It hurts my head every time you talk like that." She added coldly to the team's youngest member.

Sonara ground her teeth in frustration. "You...you're wrong! Of course she did!" She protested fiercely, fiery anger in her cobalt eyes.

Kyra's gaze hardened ."...Why are you fighting against me so hard?" she growled at the small brunette, her own emerald eyes heating up with temper. "What business is it to you if I don't care about someone?"

"But she isn't just someone! She is YOUR MOM!"

Suddenly, Kyra snapped. "Shut up! You don't know ANYTHING about her!" She shouted in a foreign tone of anger.

The three teammates let out a startled squeak. They were caught off guard by Kyra's raise in volume. She was usually quiet when talking, even when she was being cynical and condescending. But before them was not the Kyra they knew. Not at all.

"C'mon guys, you need to-" Valerie began to say before Rosalie put a hand on her shoulder. The team leader looked back to see the pink haired girl frowning, slowly shaking her head, and the bluenette withdrew.

"...Let me ask you something," Kyra leered, fronting Sonara. "Do you know what it's like? To be the daughter of someone so revered? It's the worst. Everything you do isn't good enough, because it wasn't as how _she _would've done it. How _she _did it better!" The girl was practically shaking as she spoke. "And what do I get if I try something? Nothing, save looks of disappointment."

Kyra paused before continuing, her voice more controlled, yet still bitter. "Titania...my mother...she was never there for me. She never could take the time to spend it on her only child. There was always somewhere else she had to be. Something important that only she could do. Even when I asked her to stay, she ignored me. Heck, even my father is just as ignorant."

Sonara and the others could only listen with wide eyes as Kyra vented, water threatening to fall from her green eyes. They had no idea about any of this, and it saddened them.

Kyra wiped at her eyes before looking back at a dumbfounded Sonara. "In the end, that woman got herself killed on a mission that even she couldn't do. Nevermind that I naively begged her to stay. So, in the end,_ I_ helped myself grow up._ I _made myself into who I am now. I didn't need anyone before, and as far as I'm concerned I don't now."

The albino's eyes were hard, her body stiff with rage. "So now what, Sonara? What can you possibly say that can convince me otherwise?!"

The brunette was speechless. She wanted to lash out. To kick and shout with all her might. But that didn't happen. All Sonara could do was clench her fists in barely controlled frustration, muttering quietly, "I...I..."

Kyra let a huff escape her mouth. She'd won. "That's what I thought..." she stated, turning away from her team.

Valerie bit her lip anxiously. She had no idea how bad wanting to know more about her partner would turn out. While they had been together for a few months now, she really didn't know much about their backgrounds. And though she wanted to step in and fix the issue, there wasn't anything she could really do. Slowly, she looked over at Sonara with worried eyes. The small girl's hands were trembling, and her head was downcast, eyes hidden beneath her muted brown hair. Valerie took a cautious step forward. "Hey...Sonara? Are you..."

It happened incredibly fast. Sonara robotically strode up to Kyra, forcibly turned the girl back around, and gripped her teammate's shirt collar with both hands, the young girl shaking all over. It could've been her imagination, but Kyra also could've sworn she felt the ground shaking under her feet.

While Valerie and Kyra froze in shock, all the alarms in Rosalie's head went off. "No! Sonara, Stop!" The girl warned her partner. She knew this Sonara. She'd had met this version of her a long, **long** time ago. "Don't do this! You need to calm down!" Rosalie shouted, fearing for her two friends.

Numb and scared, Kyra didn't move. Her mouth was slightly agape, and all she could do was try and process exactly what was happening with bewildered eyes.

"...You...whiny...bitch..." Sonara hissed, a venomous bite in her words. She kept her head down as she continued. "You think you've had it so rough...? That just because mommy and daddy didn't spend as much time with you as you wanted, you can cry about it? Let me tell **you **something..." the small girl now looked up, right into Kyra's eyes. She herself looked ready to seriously hurt her teammate, but was betrayed by the dew forming around her sapphire orbs. "...You should be grateful for having any parents at all. For that love and attention you received, however small it was. Not everyone gets the luxuries you got, and you going around being ungrateful about it...seriously pisses me off..." Sonara concluded coldly, tightening her grip.

"Sonara! That's enough!" Rosalie scolded firmly, grabbing one of her partner's arms as she figuratively put her foot down. "Let her go..."

The brunette slowly looked at her friend with damp eyes, but did as she was told, her arms falling to her sides weakly.

"...I...I'm so sorry..." Sonara apologized, quiet as a mouse as hot tears fell from her cheeks. Her body still trembled from adrenaline, and unconsciously backed towards their room door. "I-I didn't m-m-mean to..." She squeaked, mortified at what she almost did. The girl then ran towards the door, opening it and bolting away with surprising speed.

"Wait! Sonara!" Valerie called out, but nothing happened.

The remaining three girls stared blankly at where their last teammate ran off, all of their faces frozen in shock.

Suddenly, Rosalie spoke up. "...We have to go after her." She stated, "Right. Now."

"Wait, what?" Kyra replied in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Rosalie said firmly, frowning. "She needs all of us right now. Even you, Kyra. Whether you think so or not."

Kyra grimaced to herself quietly. She seriously doubted that.

"She's right." Valerie agreed. "We're a team after all, and as it's leader, I say we're all going." The girl stated, unmoving.

Kyra let out a quiet sigh. Guess there was nothing else for it. "But where should we start? We don't have any clue as to where she's going." She inquired.

Rosalie furrowed her brow. "That's true. She's actually a really good hider when she wants to, so this could take unnecessarily long..." she admitted.

For a while, the girls just stood there, thinking. And as the trio contemplated, Valerie got an idea. "...Go on ahead without me." She replied, briskly exiting. "I'm going to get some help..."

Both remaining members nodded as their leader quickly left. Then, wasting no more time, Rosalie led Kyra out, making sure that the girl would help look for her...no, _their_ friend.


	12. Rocky Backroads

Valerie drifted around the corner as she ran through the dorm halls. With strong determination, the girl flew like the wind as she counted the number of doors she passed. It was just a little further. Once she got there, she believed with certainty they'd help for sure...

"No...no...no..." She mumbled to herself. She was getting closer, but not close enough. What's worse, there was an enticing, savory smell wafting around the dorms, and it only got stronger as she got closer to her destination. It weighed down her legs ever so slightly, but she couldn't afford getting distracted.

"No...no...n-wait, here!" She exclaimed as she skidded to a halt. She then ratted her knuckles against the wood, impatiently fidgeting.

After a moment, the white door opened, Azure's familiar face poking out. "Hey." He greeted curtly. "Something up?"

Valerie sighed with relief. "Oh good, you're here. Listen, we really need soooo...what are you wearing?" She asked in confusion at spying something atop the boy's head.

Raising an eyebrow, Azure stepped out from behind the door. Valerie blinked a few times in disbelief when seeing a white apron and a cream colored chef's toque adorning the young man. The chocolatey aroma that she had been smelling flew out from inside KRME's dorm as well, making the girl's knees weak.

"Just something when I cook." The boy answered plainly. "Gayle and I are baking cookies."

"Heck yeah we are!" The lizard faunus exclaimed somewhere in the room, a hint of giddiness in her voice.

Valerie stared in amazed silence. Azure _baked_? And going by the smell, he was good at it! You meant to tell her that her crush was good looking, a skilled fighter, _and _a capable cook?!

_Oh, my God, I want him even more... _The girl thought to herself, eyeing Azure intensely while her cheeks tinted pink. What other things did she need to know about this boy?

Unbeknownst to Valerie, Azure caught the look. "...You okay?" He inquired.

Vigorously shaking her head, Valerie snapped back to reality. "Y-yeah!" She stated, a little flustered. Remembering why she was there, the girl refocused. "Look, I need your help."

"With what?"

"Well...it's Sonara."

Azure raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"See...her and Kyra had a bit of a fight, and now she's run off..." Valerie explained vaguely. "I don't want to be causing any trouble, but could you maybe help us find her?" she asked hopefully.

Azure stood there for a moment, contemplative. The boy then abruptly closed the door for a moment, emerging again in normal clothes and his partner at his side.

"Rem and I will help. She's got the best hearing I've ever seen, and is a great tracker. So this should be quick." Azure said, Rember smiling proudly while she had a chocolate cookie in her mouth.

Her spirits lifting, Valerie cracked a grin. "Thank you." She replied.

Azure nodded and turned his head back towards his dorm. "Gayle? Rem and I are going out for a bit! You're in charge while I'm gone! Make sure Jad doesn't have any cookies while we're out!" He shouted.

There was a sound of an affirmative from Gayle, and a loud, whiny protest from Jad as Azure shut the door behind him. The boy and his partner then looked to Valerie, waiting to know their directives.

"Okay. Just follow me!" The girl stated, and the three of them rushed out of the dorm. The hunt for Sonara had begun.

* * *

"...Still no sign of her." Kyra stated flatly, stopping to take a rest. Her and Rosalie had been out looking for their youngest team member for who knows how long, and it was starting to make her weary. Valerie no doubt took whatever help she found to the opposite end of wherever they were, which meant hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

"She can't be far. Let's keep looking." Rosalie replied, still on the lookout for her partner.

The two of them kept searching. They were checking the west side of the school, both inside and out. They were so far out now, the the cliffs to the Emerald Forest weren't far away. Still no luck though, and as they moved, Kyra was left to her own thoughts, running what happened earlier on repeat in her head.

"...Hey, Rosalie-"

"No need to be so tense, Kyra." Rosalie commented, a calm air around her. "And you can call me Rose." She said with a friendly smile.

Blinking a few times, Kyra cleared her throat and started over. "...Rose. About what happened before..."

Rosalie abruptly shook her head. "Don't. I'm not the one who needs an apology here."

"Wha? N-no, that's not what I was going to say."

"Oh! I'm sorry. What is it?"

Kyra collected herself again. "I just have a question...about Sonara." She explained, humbled.

Rosalie suddenly stopped in her tracks, keeping her back to her teammate. Just as Kyra started to get a bit uncomfortable, the girl with the pink braid turned to address her, a stone serious look on her face. The sight of it made the pale haired member of AMBR shiver. Her purple eyes that usually were so comforting and warm...no trace of them remained. Rosalie seemed to study her teammate very closely, and spoke with a neutral tone.

"Only one?" She asked.

"Uh, well...no."

"I see..." The rose haired Huntress mumbled. "I'll answer one now. You can save the rest for when we find Sonara." She permitted, waiting patiently.

Kyra bit her lip nervously. Guess she'd better make it count...

"Could you explain to me why Sonara...blew up like that before she ran off?"

When Kyra finished, Rosalie seemed to deflate. A sad smile was painted across her lips, and she bobbed her head. She should've seen this coming a mile away. "Better take a seat." She suggested, motioning to a rock sitting all alone in the dry grass. Kyra accepted the gesture, and Rosalie tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"...That person you saw..." Rosalie said, choosing her words, "she's the Sonara that I knew back when we were kids."

Kyra's eyebrows flew up a fraction, but let her teammate continue her story.

"She wasn't always a happy person. In fact, now that I think about it, she used to be quite cruel..." Rosalie continued, trailing off.

As she listened, Kyra kept herself from showing any further outward reaction to her teammate's tale. But inwardly, she couldn't picture her teammate being anything besides overly positive and energetic, much less...mean.

"Listen Kyra," Rosalie said to refocus on topic, "What you should understand is that...she chose a long time ago to be the happy, and at times annoying, girl you know."

The pale young woman raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Rosalie slowly shook her head. "...I'm sorry, but I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about that without her consent." She apologized sadly, "You'll need to ask her yourself."

Kyra felt a twinge of irritation about Rosalie being so tight lipped, but she saw where she was coming from. She was just being a good friend and teammate. Something she (although she hated to admit it) certainly hadn't been…

"C'mon, we need to keep looking." Rosalie stated, getting to her feet. Kyra soon followed suite, watching her teammate point towards Beacon Cliffs. "You go that way, and I'll go the opposite." Kyra simply nodded and observed her jog off, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She then went off to where she was directed.

* * *

The golden rays of the sun were turning orange as the burning orb descended into the horizon. In a small glade near Beacon, Sonara sat beneath a small fir tree, fiddling with one of its cones in her fingers. The young girl's eyes were pink, and sniffles plagued her nose. Curled up tightly, Sonara's arms were screaming to be unlatched from holding her legs, but weren't heeded. All she could think of was the look on Kyra's face. The look on everyone's face…

_**What a compulsive brat…**_

Sonara held her breath when she remembered what was a long forgotten scorn. She violently, desperately shook her head, praying that her mind would delve any further. To her dismay, they only kept coming, the damage long done.

_**Violent...Rude…**_

"...n..no…" Sonara whispered weakly, the earth beneath her shifting.

_**What the-?! What's wrong with you?!**_

"No, I never meant to-I mean, I never wanted to-"

_**We'll be back, sweetie. We promise…**_

Upon remembering that small, sickeningly familiar voice, Sonara broke.

"STOP IT!" Sonara shouted to herself, clutching at her head. Cracks shot through the ground from where the small brunette sat as her semblance tore the earth asunder, the flood that was her suppressed memories rushing back to her. Suddenly, instead of hateful words and broken promises, an old memory came into the young girl's recollection, the scene reminiscing in her mind's eye.

* * *

A poor, unlucky boy felt the chill of mud and water rip through him as he was abruptly thrown to the ground, bruises hiding under his soaked clothes. There was a thunderstorm overhead, drenching him further to the bone. Standing above him, with mangled brown hair, sharp blue eyes, and a frown that could scare even the toughest man, was a girl only two thirds the size of him. Yet, she was able to corral him into a cut off area, and was mugging the shit out of him. Pain wracked his body, and he forced one eye open to see his looming attacker. Old and tattered clothes that were too big for her, grime covering her skin, and a group of small chunks of hard earth and rock menacingly floated in midair. Despite the look,she had to have been around the same age as him, maybe younger.

"W-*cough*What do you want...from me?" he asked, terrified as he watched the levitating stones keenly.

The young girl blankly eyed her victim, the rain bouncing off of her tattered coat and rocks floating just above her.

"Are *cough* *cough* are you even listening? Hey!"

* * *

"-Hey."

Sonara's eyes shot open, free from her nightmare. Her head was sore from all the crying, and the ground around her went still. To her surprise and fear, Kyra was right in front of her. Her usually sharp and analytical emerald eyes soft with an underline of concern. The short brunette unconsciously scooted herself into the tree behind her.

"W-w-why are you here?" She asked, a terrible feeling in her gut.

Kyra was quiet for a moment. Mustering her courage, she tried her usual attitude, but she hoped it sounded less...cynical.

"I'm here cause you ran off, idiot." the young woman stated, "What other reason should I have?"

"But I…" Sonara trailed off, wiping her nose with a sleeve, "I...hurt you, said mean things I promised myself I would never say to anyone...I'm so sorry, Kyra." She apologized, not having the confidence to look her teammate in the eye.

"...Don't worry about it."

Sonara felt a jolt of surprise. Her words. They weren't...blunt and hard. Tentatively, she looked back at her teammate, waiting to see if she would keep talking.

Kyra cracked the faintest hint of a smile, and continued. "You're not the one at fault here." She said meekly, "...I realize my outburst was uncalled for. I just...have a lot of stuff I need to work on." The young woman took a seat beside Sonara, giving her about a half foot gap. "...I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't lash out at people just because they're curious about me."

Sonara continued sitting in silence. The young brunette studied Kyra, seeing if she was completely sincere in her words. From what she could tell, she was speaking truthfully. The albino was looking out into the distance, her eyes unfocused.

"...So, you never really had your parents around growing up?" Sonara asked quietly.

Kyra didn't outwardly acknowledge her question, but eventually answered with a brief "...Yeah."

Sonara nodded her head. "...Me too…" the girl admitted, her voice still hushed.

For another brief moment, the two girls merely sat beneath the fir tree, cicadas and rustling caused by wind gusts acting as the ambiance.

"What happened to them?" Kyra asked.

"...They left me." Sonara replied, "Back when I was little." Shifting her position around as she laid against the stiff bark, the brunette took a deep breath before deciding to elaborate. "I don't remember much about them, but we weren't very well off financially, I think. Didn't have much in our house. But I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, I was happy with what we had…"

As Sonara continued her story, Kyra made sure to listen. She was finally going to have her answers regarding her teammate…

"Then, one day they dropped me to some place I'd never been before, and they never came back."

"That...must've been pretty tough." Kyra commented.

Sonara weakly shrugged her shoulders. The girl tried giving a smile, but couldn't muster it. "Yeah, kinda. I had to be really mean after that. Remembering everything...it makes me feel sick…" Taking a deep breath, she continued. "All I want is to find them again. To know exactly why they ditched me...but I've haven't seen 'em since then. I guess you could say that's part of why I became a Huntress. Lets me cover more ground, ya know?"

Kyra was amazed. And...a little ashamed of herself. There was so much to this girl than she ever could've guessed…

"Hasn't been all bad though." Sonara added, "I mean, I got Rosy out of it."

"That's true. She's been your best friend ever since you were all on you own, yeah?"

"Pretty much. Actually, she's a bit more than that…"

Kyra looked at Sonara questioningly. Seeing the intrigued look in her emerald gaze, Sonara was finally able to put on a genuine smile since that afternoon.

"When Rosy's family found out I didn't have a family, they brought me in and took care of me. So I guess you could say we're sisters in a way!" She commented lightly, her grin widening.

Kyra finally got it. All her questions about Sonara's attitude, Rosalie's huge tolerance towards her partner, why the girl fought the way she did when she talked about her mother...she finally understood.

"Wow...I never thought you two were adoptive siblings…" She mumbled.

"Hehe, yep. We even have a younger sister back home! She's a huntress in training too!"

"No kidding. Is she like Rosalie? Or hyper like you?" Kyra jabbed, grinning slyly. It earned a laugh from her teammate, and she couldn't help but sharing in her infectious giggles.

"Hehehehe, she's pretty nice. Kinda gullible, but that's makes her more fun. At least she's not grumpy. Don't know if I could handle another wet stick in the mud like you!"

"Feelings mutual, you blockhead."

The two girls shared another collective laugh, the orange sunset in the distance spotting streaks of pink and purple. After quieting down, Sonara was feeling much better. A heavy weight was lifted off her chest, making herself feel so much lighter than she had been.

"So...I know we butt heads, Kyra…" Sonara ventured, "But, I think we'd have a better time at school if we were friends, instead of hating each other all the time. Whaddya think?"

Kyra pondered the proposition, tapping her chin with a finger contemplatively. It made Sonara anxious, even though the albino was most likely doing it to mess with her a little bit more. The emerald eyed girl soon shrugged her shoulders, a uncharacteristically warm smile on her face.

"I don't see why not," She stated calmly, "I don't really have a lot of those. But...maybe try to tone it down when you're excited?"

Sonara nodded her head. "Okay. Just because you asked. And in exchange, you need to be less of a grump!"

"I'll...see what I can do."

"You better!"

Kyra, satisfied the rift between her and her partner was mended, took out her scroll and called Rosalie. After a moment, the rose haired girl picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey. I found her."

"_You did?! Oh, thank goodness! Where are you right now?"_

"In a small glade near Beacon Cliffs."

"_And...how's Sonara?"_

"She's okay, Rose. Everything is good."

"_So you...?"_

"Yeah. We're good."

"_Ohh...What a relief."_

Kyra cracked a chuckle. "We're heading back now. If you can notify Val, we'll see you back at the dorm in a bit."

"_Okay. I'll see you both soon!"_

The transmission then went dead, and Kyra put her scroll back. Getting to her feet, she dusted her clothes off and extended a hand out to Sonara, the short brunette taking the aid gracefully.

"Let's get going. Don't want to keep them waiting any longer." Kyra said.

"Right! No more sulking! It's spring break tomorrow, which means lots of fun ahead!" Sonara cheered jubilantly.

Wasting no more time, the two girls made their way back towards Beacon. Along the way Sonara listed off all of the things she wanted to do while on break, and asked if Kyra wanted to go with her. The white haired girl gave the occasional 'yes' or 'no', the voice of her teammate much less grating than she remembered it being.


	13. The Wheels of Cheese are Turning

The streets of Vale buzzed with energy as the residents went through their individual routines. The Vytal Festival was only days away, and everyone was filled with anticipation and excitement for the upcoming festivities. Banners were hung, shops were stocked, and spirits were high. Amidst the crowd, two teenagers walked against the flow of human traffic, their pace lackadaisical as they strolled.

"*sniiiiiiiff* Haaaaaaaaaaah..." One of the teens, a boy with raven black hair inhaled contentedly, taking in the smells wafting around the city. "Boy, I've missed Vale! It's been quite a while since we've been back here, hasn't it, my dear Wisteria?" he asked the girl beside him, smiling to himself as they moved up the pavement.

"Mmm," Wisteria hummed distantly. The short girl adjusted the twin tailed scarf around her neck, the long white cloth trailing in the wind with her rich violet, black tipped hair. She certainly didn't _feel _like she missed this place. "I suppose it has. Though I really don't care, Creed." she mumbled, absolutely bored out of her skull.

Creed chuckled to himself, getting a strange enjoyment out of his partner's disinterest. "Hehehe, of course," the boy responded, "but not to worry. We only need to do a few more jobs for those..._scum_...and then we will finally be free..." he trailed off, hiding a venomous grin before addressing the girl beside him again, "And by the way, I love the new look! Very nice~" Creed complimented as he took note of Wisteria's gear. The girl wore a long, sleeveless purple cheongsam, with detached black arm sleeves and lilac boots. A leather belt sat securely around her waist, two long knives sheathed in it with various Dust compartments snugly placed around the outside.

She shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. You haven't really changed much yourself," the girl noted with her pink eyes.

"Ah, what can I say?" Creed said narcissistically, theatrically flipping a part of the long black coat he wore with a hand. "The bold, beautiful color of black is just so suitable on me!" He announced dramatically. What he said was true; All his attire was pitch black, with the one exception of a grey button up shirt under his coat.

"...you really are quite the ham, Creed..." Wisteria replied flatly, not buying into her associate's antics.

Creed just continued to laugh to himself as the pair leisurely continued on their way, now past the more friendly looking parts of the residential district. The streets around them had become narrower, more derelict. And while the air around them was more foreboding, it didn't bother the teens.

"...Why are we even doing what they say, Creed?" Wisteria asked the tall boy. The question had been on her mind for a while. "I thought that we-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Creed cut the girl off, wagging a finger in her direction, "Not yet, my dear. Should be soon, but not yet."

"But why?"

"Because-" the boy paused, stopping to look at Wisteria, "if we did it now with just the two of us and that other pair the higher ups saddled us with, we wouldn't get far. After all..." Creed resumed walking, "we're still missing the most valuable member to our party!"

Wisteria felt a spark of emotion in her hollow body, the emptiness in her eyes vanishing for a fleeting moment. "...Y...You know he...he isn't coming back..." the young girl whispered, a touch of pain in her voice, "He did betray us...after all."

"Oh pfft." Creed stated dismissively, "I know he'll come. He isn't under any spell now that I...took care of...that enchantress all those years ago, so all is forgiven. And Vale is the only place left for him to be hiding. That's why we asked to come back here, right?"

Staying silent for a minute, Wisteria responded with a solitary nod, and Creed gave her a sickly sweet smile.

"That's the spirit!" he said happily, putting a hand on Wisteria's shoulder, "...and I know you want to see him just as badly as I do, so just hang in there."

After that little exchange, the two of them didn't converse the rest of the trip, soon arriving at an apartment. Creed did a shoulder check before entering, quickly shutting the door behind him and Wisteria. They went up a flight of stairs, and entered the third room on the right.

"Oh good. The gang's all here," Creed sneered upon seeing two people inside. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't find this place!"

The occupants of the apartment, two faunus teens, were unimpressed. One, a tall girl with clearly visible wolf ears, simply hardened her cold gaze. The other, a muscled boy with curved horns spiraling on either side of his head, huffed and crossed his arms.

"Don't flatter yourself," the wolf girl said, voice impassive and onyx black eyes blank of emotion. Her long white hair was braided, and she wore a full black leather body suit.

"Oh! Our illustrious leader speaks! I didn't think I could get under your skin this easily, Starr. I must be getting better." Creed taunted, smiling snidely.

The wolf faunus strategically didn't react, showing nothing. Creed wasn't discouraged, and redirected his efforts to the other teen. "Eh, guess not. I'll get you eventually. Aries is so easy, it's no fun anymore." he said, feigning disappointment.

The goat faunus grit his teeth while glaring at the cocky boy, subconsciously gripping his weapon, a compacted morningstar, tightly. The boy wore an assortment of brown leather and metal armor, and his hair was a light brown and cut short, almost military style.

Wisteria cut Creed's attempted jabs short. "Now's not the time." the girl stated, and the noiret shut his lid, content.

"What're the orders?" Aries asked Starr.

Straightening up from her spot against the wall, the wolf girl answered plainly. "We're to infiltrate Beacon Academy. We'll be under the guise of students visiting for the festival, and gather intel for them."

The other three nodded, and Aries turned to look at Creed. "So then why did _you_ tell us to come here?" he asked, the hostility in his voice obvious to everyone.

Smiling maliciously, the boy in black responded happily. "Because I believe you're ready..."

"What're you talking about?" Aries demanded shortly.

"Hmmm...let me ask you..." Creed continued, choosing his words as he stepped to the center of the room, all eyes on him, "...do you actually like the state of things? Where everything is decided by pompous airheads locked away in their council chambers, oblivious to the world's real problems? And our employers, the White Fang..." the boy dramatically paused, letting the name sink in, "who think they can get all the attention they want by throwing a large enough tantrum? Doesn't it just _grind your gears? _Tell me you all yearn for the moment when the state of things can be made anew!"

There was no outward reaction from the audience. They all had on their own respective looks of interest or, in Aries' and Starr's case, suspicion.

"Well it's _tabula rasa_ time my friends, and for a while I've been doing something about it," Creed grinned. "You see, I've been gathering a group of like minded individuals and would like to extend the invitation for the pair of you to join my little revolution." the boy concluded.

"...You realize what you're suggesting is treason against the White Fang," Starr stated, "and there are grave consequences."

"Hehehe, not if we destroy all of those weaklings before they know..." Creed replied in a singsong voice.

"What are you saying, you snake?!" Aries growled, starting to grow tired of Creed flapping his mouth.

"Oh, open your ears, Marshall," Creed mocked, putting on a frown, "I wouldn't just say this to people who I believed would say no and ring the bell on me."

The boy's expression flipped from malicious to deadly. "I've watched you and Starr very, **very** closely, and I know you sympathize with me. You want more than what those fools in the White Fang can give you. You can deny it all you want, but I know you do. Join me, and the world will be your prize..." the boy concluded, staring intensely at the two faunus.

Neither Starr nor Aries said anything. While it was quite obvious on the goat's face that he was stewing over the proposition, the wolf girl was still as stone cold as ever. Wisteria was off to the side, minding her own business as she fiddled with her scarf.

"...That's quite ambitious, serpent," Aries grumbled, "...but I'll commit, if it can fix this mess."

Creed smiled eerily, satisfied with convincing Aries. "Of course it will~" he said with a sweet tone. He then turned to Starr; everyone was awaiting her answer.

The wolf faunus had her eyes closed, still positioned against the peeling wallpaper. After a moment, she spoke with the same disinterested voice she always had.

"Fine."

"Excellent!" Creed beamed happily. He bounced over to the door and opened it in grand fashion. "Now off to Beacon! We need to keep up appearances, after all. Plus, I have one more person to find, and I think he's there..." the snake faunus made his exit, leaving the others in the dust.

Wisteria was the one who spoke up. "Guess we should go." she sighed, and followed after Creed. Aries and Starr exchanged a fleeting glance before trailing behind the small girl, leaving the room without a trace of it ever being occupied.

* * *

"*Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwnn...*"

"Woah, that was a big one." Rember commented with a grin as she looked over to Azure, then taking a bite out of the chicken meal in front of her. It was lunch time at Beacon, and KRME and AMBR were enjoying each other's company. The teams had spent the entire spring break as they pleased, not doing much in the department of excitement; they caught up on school work, goofed off in their dorms, ventured into town on the odd day. Now, it was the last day before classes resumed.

"Not my fault..." Azure mumbled, rubbing at his eyes as he took a sip of grape soda.

"Why so tired?" Valerie inquired.

Sighing, Azure gestured to his partner. "Ask her." he replied dryly, earning a giggle from Rember.

The members of AMBR looked at the fox girl with questioning eyes. "We took in a little kitten recently." she stated with pride.

"Whaaat?! You have a KITTY?" Sonara exclaimed, stars in her eyes. "I wanna see it! I wanna see it!" she squealed childishly, bouncing in her seat.

"What is its name?" Rosalie asked with interest, a sparkle in her purple eyes.

"Thistlebutt," Rember beamed, "but we just call him Thistle."

Sonara could barely contain herself, squeeing with glee, but when Kyra spoke up, her tone was flat.

"Um, sorry to be the wet blanket, but are you actually allowed to have him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The fox girl smiled. "Of course," she replied plainly. Kyra was still a little skeptical, and looked at Azure. The boy nodded once, confirming his partner's answer.

"Well, that must be fun," Valerie added, "but why are you so tired?"

Sighing, Azure began slowly. "Ever since Rem took him in, it's been sleeping on my bed and keeping me up..." he took a swig of soda before continuing, "it practically won't leave me alone."

There was a collective 'awww' from Valerie, Sonara, and Rosalie, imagining a small, purring cat curled up next to the young man. Rember's grin kept growing in size.

"That just means he loves you." the fox faunus said, and Azure let out a exasperated (but good natured) grumble.

"Oh! by the way Jad," Rosalie inquired to the fedora wearing ginger, "where's Gayle? I haven't seen her today at all."

"Yeah, Broki. What happened to Brosaurus?" Rember added, all eyes on the tall boy.

Jad swallowed his mouthful of bacon. "Beats me. She was bouncing off the walls earlier today when she got a message on her Scroll. Then she booked it out the door 'bout an hour ago and hasn't appeared since." he said, shrugging, and quickly returned his attention to his heaping plate, conspicuously guarding a steak with a free arm.

"That's weird..." Valerie mumbled, surveying the dining hall in search of the lizard faunus. "...Oh, hey! Isn't that her?" she exclaimed, pointing to a girl with a long braid and longer tail, standing near the entrance.

KRME and AMBR all turned. Sure enough, it was Gayle. However, it wasn't her presence that immediately caught everyone's attention, but rather what she was doing.

"Heeeey..." Sonara began, squinting.

"...Is she..." Rember said, fox ears attentive.

"Talking with a guy!?" Jad shouted in surprise, eyes comically wide.

Though a few of them didn't believe the sight, it was nonetheless true; Gayle was chatting up a boy none of them had ever seen before. The two were both laughing and smiling, obviously having a riot. Needless to say, it was...rather out of character for the introverted faunus. Gayle then spotted her team, waving at them excitedly before linking her arm with the boy's and dragging him along to the team's table.

"Hey guys!" Gayle chimed happily. All at the table nodded, dumbfounded. "I'd like to introduce you to someone!"

She motioned to the boy, who flashed a friendly smile and a small wave. He had silver hair and purple eyes, with a pair of dual-coloured glasses perched on his nose, and a shimmery violet scarf wound around his neck.

There was no reaction, save Sonara asking eagerly, "Ooh! Who's this?"

"Remember that childhood friend I mentioned a few times back during the Paper Menagerie Incident?" Gayle said with a widening smile while looking at her accomplice. "This is him!"

"Hullo," the silver haired boy greeted pleasantly, his grin turning more quirky.

Everyone (discluding Sonara) stared blankly at the lizard faunus and her companion. After a minute, Jad broke the silence.

"...You had a friend before us?" he asked, astonished (and perhaps disappointed).

"Ceridwen Vi Ianthe," he proclaimed grandly, with a small bow and a cheeky half-smirk, "it's a pleasure to meet Whiptail's new friends."

Continued silence. The other members of KRME did recall Gayle talking about a friend she'd had when she was little, but the reality of it never really clicked in their heads. The young girl wasn't the greatest at socializing, so none of them had bothered to consider if she still had that relationship with this Ceridwen fellow. Regardless, it was really unexpected.

"Ooooh! You have a super cool name!" Sonara commented.

_Yeah...He's quite the looker too... _Valerie thought to herself. She had to admit, Ceridwen was pretty easy on the eyes. If she wasn't already going after Azure, she'd definitely try to...get to know him better.

"Mmm~ Gotta say, Gayle, you sure know how to pick 'em," the girl said with a wink.

"What do you mean?" Gayle asked blankly. She obviously didn't catch the underlying meaning behind the bluenette's words.

"Just that Ceridwen seems nice." Rosalie interjected.

_Hah! That's not what I got from Val... _Kyra thought snidely. She saw the glint in her partner's red eyes as Valerie looked Ceridwen over.

"Glad to hear I warrant your approval," Ceridwen responded charmingly. He then caught the narrowed gaze of a certain fedora wearing redhead, and quirked an eyebrow in response to the intense stare. "For the most part," he amended with a good natured tone.

KRME all looked to their last member.

"What's up, Broki?" Rember asked, fox ears forward.

Jad pursed his lips together as he kept looking at Ceridwen. "...This just hasn't really sunk in yet," he explained, "I'm probably gonna need a while to process this."

Azure merely shrugged indifferently. He had no problem with Gayle having other friends. "So what brings you here?" he asked the boy in glasses.

"May I?" Ceridwen asked politely, indicating an open seat at the table. At a nod from the pale haired leader, he sat. Gayle, still quivering with excitement, quickly followed suit, seating herself across the table and next to her still-skeptical partner.

"Well," he explained, "as you all know, the Vytal Festival Tournament is being hosted here in Vale soon. I travelled here to compete."

"Ooh where are your teammates?! We should go meet them all!" Sonara chattered brightly.

Ceridwen laughed. "That may be a tad difficult."

At the girl's confused look, Gayle interjected, "Oh, Ceridwen doesn't have a team. He competes solo."

There was a surprised hum at the table. People going solo at what was meant to be a team oriented tournament was rare, almost unheard of.

"All by yourself? That's amazing," Rosalie complimented. "You must be pretty good."

"Well, I try."

"Have you actually won any?" Kyra asked.

Ceridwen's mouth twitched into a sly half-smirk. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Kyra inclined her head to the side, and Jad spoke up.

"Maybe we should tussle some time. See who's better," the boy challenged Ceridwen, a competitive smile on his face.

Ceridwen lifted an eyebrow, grinning impishly. "Sounds like fun."

_...You can almost see the heated sparks flying... _Azure noted to himself. Jad was always eager to pound someone, but this was different. Why he was so determined to brawl Gayle's friend, Azure didn't know.

"Alright, you two, save it for later." Rember chuckled, and the two boys settled down.

"So what are you all doing today?" Rosalie asked KRME, swiftly refocusing conversation onto a less hostile topic.

All four members looked at each other blankly, each waiting for the others to pitch an idea.

"Eh, not sure yet." Rember admitted finally.

"We have been going out a lot recently..." Gayle reflected, absently fidgeting with the end of her braid.

"So let's do something in the dorm!" Jad suggested. "Downtime is just as good as up time."

Rember suddenly lit up as she remembered something. "Oh! Our cookie stash is running low, Brosef." she told her partner, smiling expectantly.

Azure nodded. "I see..." he mumbled, "Guess Gayle and I need to make some more then."

"Yes!" Rember cheered happily, small fangs peeking out of her jubilant smile as she fist pumped.

"Sweet!" Gayle exclaimed. She always loved helping her leader when he baked; it had become one of her favorite things to do since arriving at Beacon, besides attending classes. Baking together was their exclusive activity, just for the two of them, although the others certainly took a keen interest as well.

"Ooooh! You're making cookies?!" Sonara asked Azure excitedly. "Could I have some?"

"Sure. If we somehow have extras." He sent a pointed glance to Jad and Rember, eliciting snickers from everyone at the table.

"YAY!"

Rosalie giggled to herself. "Sonara and I were thinking of going to the CCT to make a call to Mistral later." she said cheerfully.

"Yeah! See how everyone is doing back home!" the short brunette agreed.

Kyra sipped her iced tea nonchalantly. "You go ahead without me. I don't have anyone to call."

"Maybe I'll join you," Valerie told her two teammates. "I mean, I guess I could call home in Atlas...but I doubt anyone would pick up..." she mumbled, a disappointed smile painted on her face as she shrugged. "On second thought, I think I'll stick with you, Kyra."

The white haired girl nodded, and silence returned to the table.

Suddenly, KRME, AMBR, and Ceridwen heard the beginnings of a commotion at one of the other tables. Apparently, the girl known as Weiss Schnee had just received a pie to the face. Her partner Ruby Rose was laughing nervously, trying to keep the heiress to the SDC from exploding in anger. It appeared Nora Valkyrie was the one who threw it, but she was hastily pointing to her partner Lie Ren, who was facepalming himself.

Without warning, chaos ensued.

Weiss grabbed the nearest food item and chucked it as hard as she could at Nora. The heiress missed her intended target and hit a different person at the next table. Before anyone knew what was going on, the entire mess hall was in an uproar. Food was flying everywhere, and the students were starting to get pelted from up above.

"Take cover!" Azure shouted. He and Ceridwen swiftly flipped their big table, and all of them scrambled to get behind it.

"Everyone alright? Rem?" Azure asked, brushing mashed potato off his uniform as he peeked over their barrier; as quick as they had been, they hadn't been spared the initial onslaught.

Beside him, Rember was having a ball. " Hahahahaha! Eat THIS!" she cackled maniacally as she hit people with whatever ammo she could, ketchup and mustard war paint smeared on her face. Sonara was right beside the faunus, backing her up using blueberry pie airstrikes with equally hysterical laughs.

"This is insane!" Kyra shouted over the commotion.

Jad shrugged happily as he kept eating his food, catching whatever flew overhead to add to his growing pile. "I like it...Ooh! Bacon!" he exclaimed as he saw some a few rows down. He crept over to it and brought it back to his plate, glowing with contentment.

"Any bright ideas to get out?" Ceridwen asked.

"Leave it to me!" Rosalie responded, activating her semblance. The air around her then began to swirl, creating a wind barrier around the rest of AMBR. Valerie and Kyra then seized Sonara, the small brunette squirming with zeal.

"Awwww! C'mon! I wanna stay!" Sonara protested loudly.

"Not today." Kyra stated firmly, holding fast.

Valerie looked at Azure. "So, catch you later?"

Azure ducked again. "Possibly. Just get going! Don't worry about us!" he commanded.

"Yeah! We totally got this!" Jad agreed, still adding to his hoard. As the redhead continued grabbing flying food, there was a loud warning shouted at KRME's cover, the team inching their heads over the edge. Like an impending meteor, a giant glob of mashed food was fast approaching the four teens (plus Ceridwen) in hiding. They all scrambled to get out of the way, and barely evaded without becoming thoroughly dirty.

Azure, Gayle, Ceridwen, and Rember got back up rather quickly.

"That was too close..." Azure mumbled.

"Anyone hurt?" Gayle asked. She then looked at her partner, who had his back turned to her and hunched over. The faunus then quickly crawled over to him. "Jad?"

When Gayle saw Jad's face, her concern grew exponentially. The boy wore an expression of utter shock; the look of a man whose one true love had just been lost to him forever. A dark green glow was emitting around his body, and his blue eyes were fixed directly on the floor in front of him. Following his gaze, Gayle saw that the food platter he had been so diligently guarding was now covered in disgusting goop.

"Hehe...Hahahaha..." Jad chuckled, a crazed look about him as his face slowly twisted into a deranged smile. "HahahahHAHAHA...**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

"Ummm...Jad?"

Without warning, the tall redhead turned around in a flash, grabbed one of the corners of their barrier and threw it as hard as he could, sending the wooden table across the hall in a spinning motion while laughing like an insane maniac.

"**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

Jad unleashed his wrath, snatching handfuls of anything he could find and pelting every unfortunate soul near enough to fall victim to his onslaught. He soon spotted the person who launched the stuff that tainted his food; the guilty student was standing shell shocked, scared stupid by his roars of hysteria.

"You...YOU! YOU RUINS IT! YOU RUINS MY STEAK! I WAS GONNA EAT THAT! NOW YOU'RE GONNA EAT **THIS!** **YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**" Jad shouted, piledriving his way through the battlefield.

"...Yeah..._Totally_ got this..." Azure mumbled dryly. He gestured to AMBR to move. "Go! We'll be right out!"

No longer wasting time, Valerie, Kyra, Rosalie, and a captive Sonara ran out of dining hall, Rosalie's wind barrier protecting them and leaving the remaining five alone and exposed.

"What's the plan, bossman?!" Gayle asked Azure, shielding herself as best she could from delicious debris.

"We'll just have to book it. I can get Rem no problem," Azure said, spotting the fox girl a little ways off, in the thick of the fight. "Can you get Jad?"

"U-uh...I'm not sure if I-"

"Don't worry, we've got this." Ceridwen interjected, grinning lopsidedly.

Gayle nodded with renewed determination, encouraged by her friend's confidence. "We'll get him, bossman," she replied affirmatively, saluting the team leader.

Azure nodded. "Then let's go!" he ordered, and the boy scrambled away to retrieve his partner. Gayle and Ceridwen weaved through the dining hall as best they could, using food trays as shields as they hunted for Jad.

After a moment of searching, Gayle found her partner. Jad was standing over the person who ruined his steak, mercilessly shoving mashed food into the person's face while shouting "YOU WILL PAY! I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!"

"...You get one end, I'll get the other?" Ceridwen asked cheekily.

Gayle hummed in approval. "Take his legs. I'll use my tail!"

The pair leapt into action. In one fluid motion, Ceridwen hit the floor and swept Jad's legs out from under him with a skillful kick. In the same moment, Gayle flipped onto her partner's back, knocking him off-balance. The furious redhead came crashing down to his knees, away from his victim, and Gayle took advantage of his surprise to immobilize his torso with the combined might of her arms and tail.

"**NOOOO! NOOOO! I MUST AVENGE IT! I MUST AVENGE MY STEAK!" **Jad screamed, foaming at the mouth as he tried to get free.

Ceridwen quietly chuckled to himself. "Quite the passionate one about his food, huh Whiptail?" He impishly commented as he took hold of the boy's legs and they hoisted him up off the ground.

Jad looked on with enraged eyes as they precariously transported him out of the room. "LEMME GO, YOU HIPPIE!" he roared. "I'M NOT FINISHED!"

Ceridwen let the comment slide, and the three of them successfully reached the entrance. Gayle frantically looked around for any sign of her other two teammates, but it was proving difficult until she caught sight of a flash of ochre hair amongst the flailing forms. She found herself sighing in relief when she identified Rember still in the thick of it.

"There's Ber..." Gayle muttered to herself, "but...where's Bossman?" There was no sign of the team leader anywhere.

Suddenly, Azure manifested out of the crowd. The pale haired boy moved with extreme precision and speed, impressively maneuvering through any empty spaces while using two food trays to keep the stains he received to a minimum. When he found his partner, Azure did a running slide under a nearby table, popped back onto his feet, grabbed the fox girl, and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"W-Wah?! Azure? Where did-" the fox faunus shouted in alarm, turning her head to try looking behind her. Azure seemingly ignored his friend as he focused on trailblazing an escape route.

"Leaving now!" Azure shouted to Gayle as he (with Rember still over his shoulder) flew past her and the other two boys. She and Ceridwen quickly followed after him. Their struggle to haul Jad was made even more difficult by the increasing traffic as more students were getting the same idea and fleeing the cafeteria, but they somehow managed to keep up with their leader. The moment they were a safe distance from the mess hall, Azure put his partner down. Gayle and Ceridwen hesitantly released Jad, who continued scowling to himself, but otherwise calmed down.

"Hahaha! That was awesome!" Rember cheered exuberantly. That had been one of the most fun moments she'd had in a long time, and it was amazing.

"Eh heh heh heh...let's never do that again." Gayle laughed faintly. Only then did she notice how filthy her long braid had gotten. She groaned in exasperation to see the usual auburn interwoven with streaks and splotches of countless other hues.

"Agreed." Azure added, frowning slightly as he lifted a gross banana peel off his shoulder.

"Hehehe. Not your idea of fun, Zure?" Rember asked teasingly.

"Not really. Didn't help I had to carry you out of there."

"Oh puh-leeeeease. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Well you're not exactly a feather, Rem."

Rember scoffed, acting like she took offense. "How rude! Say what you want Brosef, but I look good!" she quipped playfully, striking a model pose and enticing a giggle from Gayle at how silly it looked with her messy clothes.

Azure only rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Look, we need to go. One of the professors is probably on their way by now..." he said forebodingly, checking the surrounding area for any of the aforementioned teachers.

"Oh, alright." Rember yielded with a cheeky grin, brushing off the worst of the debris plastered on her uniform.

Helping a begrudging Jad to his feet, Gayle looked to her childhood friend. "So see you later?" she asked him hopefully, extending her free arm, hand closed in a fist.

Smiling, Ceridwen gave a courteous bow. "Of course. Go get cleaned up," he said, accepting the fist bump before heading off by himself without another word.

KRME then swiftly headed back to their dorm. So far, this was definitely the most eventful day they had this entire year so far. And yet the craziest part was: it was only halfway done.


End file.
